Noting the relatively constant percentage of minority students enrolling in medical schools since 1974, this paper urges academic medical centers to actively participate in the campaign by the Association of American Medical Colleges to double the number of underrepresented minority matriculants by the year 2000. Recommended strategies include…

Six medical school faculty evaluated the overall performance of eight students completing a surgery clerkship at the Michigan State University College of Human Medicine. Students were also evaluated by the National Board of Medical Examiners' Computer Based Examination (CBX). Faculty ratings correlated highly with scores produced by the CBX's…

A review of 136 malpractice cases involving residents and resident programs 1950-83 found a substantial increase in cases after 1975. Most concerned vicarious liability, applicable standard of care, and resident supervision. Residents were on the side of the prevailing party in 44 percent of cases. (Author/MSE)

A University of South Florida program giving medical students four years of primary care training was found to have little effect on specialty choice of its graduates (n=93 students), when compared to students who volunteered for the program but did not enter it or who did not volunteer. (MSE)

A Texas A & M University study found that using a series of short films and weekly discussions of medical ethics issues was an effective way of improving medical students' moral reasoning skills and that students with longer exposure to the course (n=37) developed better skills than those with shorter exposure (n=48). (Author/MSE)

Methods used to evaluate a curriculum of nine medical departmental clerkships are described, and insights about the value of these methods in studying complex learning environments are discussed. Combining data on the 22 subjects obtained by 5 distinct methods allows examination of the big picture and specific details. (SLD)

Systematic scale-development procedures, reliability analyses on 2,852 medical students (3 samples), and factor analysis were used to develop and refine a scale reflecting attitudes about pulmonary disease prevention. Development and verification samples included 110 and 2,691 students, respectively. The scale is promising for health education and…

A study of 175 Jefferson Medical College (Pennsylvania) students compared psychosocial characteristics with basic science examination grades, clinical examination grades, and ratings of clinical competence as performance measures. Results indicate the noncognitive psychosocial measures are significant and unique predictors of medical school…

A study with 21 internal medicine residents at 1 teaching hospital found that the students perceived an even balance between the service and education functions of their night-call activities. No significant difference was found between first-year and senior (second-, third-, and fourth-year) residents. (Author/MSE)

In August and September of 1989, 76 fourth year students at the University of Arizona College of Medicine took the objective structured clinical examinations. Analyses were conducted looking at the relationship of sequence to see whether scores showed a decrease in the afternoon. No significant effect of examinee fatigue was seen. (MLW)

A study compared emphasis given to various therapies in 6 psychiatry residencies (n=29 students) and by 87 practicing psychiatrists. Time allocations to therapies were relatively consistent among but not within programs. Highly trained and less highly trained practitioners extended their practices to therapies in which they were not extensively…

A study of the relationship between first-year results for 115 Dutch medical students and achievement during medical school was studied using an item-response theory model for the longitudinal measure of change with stochastic parameters (developed by Albers et al., 1989) indicates that a low rate of growth in the first year persists. (SLD)

How the study practices of advanced medical students are related to study success was investigated through questionnaires completed by 67 high achievers and interviews with 35 volunteers. Results show that individual study expectations are related to study success. Implications of a mismatch between the demands of the learning environment and…

Discussion of the interaction between students and computers focuses on an evaluation of simulation-based learning with medical students in order to develop a framework for a dialog-based support system. It is based on a dialog analysis that employs transactional analysis and logical dialog game theory. (Author/LRW)

A survey of 28 sexual abuse experts, 36 therapists involved in sexual abuse training, 210 medical students attending a human sexuality program, and 35 group facilitators of the human sexuality program, found role and gender influenced beliefs about normal and abnormal childhood sexual behavior. (Author/CR)