A survey of 149 entering first-year medical residents concerning experiences with and knowledge of infection control investigated occurrence and patterns of accidental needle-sticking and reporting, student immunization for Hepatitis B, and instruction in universal precautions. It is concluded that students are at risk for needle-sticking, but…

This evaluation determined expectations of fellowship participants, reasons 18 fellows participated in a 3-week Primary Care Policy Fellowship to establish an interdisciplinary cadre of primary care leaders, and outcomes of the program. The fellows anticipated information on networking and influencing decision making and thought the program met…

This paper describes a seminar for premedical students aimed at preventing their later disillusionment and distress as medical trainees by fostering realistic expectations and emotional exploration. The seminar consisted of discussions between premedical students and medical trainees/practitioners about stress and coping and included a physician…

A study identified the characteristics of effective teachers in a problem-based medical course. Students (n=44) saw significant differences in faculty's skills, methods, and classroom management, rating them highest on classroom participation, enthusiasm, and comfort outside their expertise and lowest on providing feedback and addressing…

A procedure, the Topic Checklist, is described that is used to assess student learning through student ratings. Results with 142 medical students suggest that the Topic Checklist is a reliable and fairly valid procedure to evaluate course content coverage and detect problems in course content coverage. (SLD)

A study investigated the ability of 415 medical students at four North Carolina medical schools to ask risk-behavior questions and provide risk-reduction advice when interviewing a standardized patient concerned about human immunovirus (HIV) infection. A majority did not assess several important risk factors, and many would have provided incorrect…

Medical students conducted an acquired immunodeficiency syndrome/human immunodeficiency virus (AIDS/HIV) education program for 2,169 high school students. Preintervention and postintervention surveys indicated that students significantly increased their AIDS/HIV knowledge after the program, though over half remained sexually active and practiced…

Survey of 571 second-year residents investigated personal observations of unethical/unprofessional conduct during their first postgraduate year. Behaviors observed included falsification of patient records by others (reported by 44.5%), patient mistreatment (73.5%), others taking credit for their work (46.7%), colleagues working in an impaired…

Presents a longitudinal study comparing problem-solving performance for medical students trained using two different approaches to medical education. The first is traditional medical education involving lectures supplemented by laboratory exercises. The second approach is problem-based learning (PBL), where students learn basic concepts in small…

This contribution describes a new laboratory experience that improves medical students' learning of chronobiology by introducing them to basic chronobiology concepts as well as to methods and statistical analysis tools specific for circadian rhythms. We designed an autorhythmometry laboratory session where students simultaneously played the role…

An understanding of the hormonal basis of normal growth and development, including the changes occurring at puberty, is important foundation knowledge for contemporary medical practice in most fields of medicine. A quiz, testing the important physiological concepts of growth and puberty, was designed using the format of the well-known television…

Objective: This pilot study provides firsthand feedback from medical students and residents in training regarding their perceptions of technology in medicine. Method: The authors distributed an e-mail invitation to an anonymous Web-based survey to medical students and residents in two different U.S. training institutions. Results: Respondents…

Objective: The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education and the Liaison Committee on Medical Education have mandated the transition from written global evaluation methods to competency-based assessments in resident and medical student training. Assessment of competency requires analysis of performance data from numerous sources. This…

Objective: To review the current status of psychopharmacology education for medical students, residents, and practitioners in psychiatry and other specialties. Methods: A search of the MEDLINE and PsychInfo data bases was conducted using four keywords: pharmacology, psychopharmacology, teaching, and student. Additional references were obtained…

Objective: The author examines one aspect of the psychopharmacology curriculum: the psychology of psychopharmacology. Method: Drawing from his experience teaching this subject to trainees at many different levels and from an emerging evidence base suggesting that psychosocial factors in the doctor-patient relationship may be crucial for medication…