During a period of rapid expansion, Wayne State University School of Medicine found it necessary to increase the professional staff of its Office of Student Affairs to meet the needs of medical students. Utilization of professional counselors, financial aid officers, study skills counselors, and peer tutors and advisers is discussed. (Author/JMD)

In 1969 a committee of the Association of American Medical Colleges made recommendations relating to the health care of medical students. A 1979 survey of 82 U.S. and Canadian schools showed little change from the methods being used in 1967. The implications of the survey are discussed and a prototype program is presented. (Author/JMD)

The 55 medical students from the University of Alabama who used a commercial test-coaching company's services to prepare for the National Board of Medical Examiners Part I examination scored significantly higher than students with comparable basic science grade-point averages. The impact of such coaching on licensure is discussed. (Author/JMD)

Evaluating a person's physical and psychological make-up along with physical and cultural environment are skills that must be learned by physicians-in-training. The faculty of the Boston City Hospital Primary Care Training Program uses the home visit to help residents develop these skills. (Author/MLW)

Social, cultural, economic, psychological, and interpersonal dimensions of cancer and cancer patient management were addressed in an elective course conducted at the University of Pennsylvania. Student attitudes toward the disease were tested before and after taking the course. Significant attitudinal shifts, new insights, and new skills resulted…

A program to prepare future physicians to treat the milder emotional problems often encountered in primary care settings is described. Also reported are the ability of third-year medical students to function successfully in an outpatient setting, the performance of these trainees as compared with that of students in inpatient settings, and an…

A method for selecting performance variables to be used in the evaluation of the clinical performance of internal medicine residents is described. Twenty of the highest ranking variables are listed, as determined by the formal sampling of the opinion of full-time and volunteer faculty and residents associated with the University of Nebraska. (JMD)

A method for obtaining medical students' evaluations of multiple-instructor courses is described. Objectives of the evaluation method are: to increase response rate; to reduce administrative problems; to obtain evaluations at the time of the lecture; to avoid overburdening students; and to avoid confusion. (MH)

In an effort to encourage cost-conscious behavior and quality assurance, students in community medicine clerkships at the Medical College of Ohio were required to conduct retrospective reviews of their peers' laboratory usage patterns using information generated by these peers during internal medicine and pediatrics rotations. (Author/JMD)

Approximately 200 citations on aspects of medical education, obtained through the National Library of Medicine, are presented. Topics include continuing education, educational measurement, educational history, graduate medical education, medical education in other countries, specialism, medical students, teaching methods and materials, and…

A long-range plan to evaluate medical students' physical examination skills was undertaken at the Ingham Family Medical Clinic at Michigan State University. The development of the psychomotor skills evaluation model to evaluate the skill of blood pressure measurement, tests of the model's reliability, and the use of the model are described. (JMD)

A study investigated medical students' expectations of the medical school environment and opinions of their academic experience in three areas (teaching/administration, psychological aspects of student life, intellectual climate) near the end of their first year in two parallel curricula: a problem-based learning program and a traditional…

Medical school surveys in 1994-95 and 1995-96 (n=104 schools) found that PhDs accounted for 25-30% of medical school enrollments; in some institutions, it was about half. Trend is toward interdisciplinary rather than departmental degrees. Number of student supported by National Institutes of Health (NIH) research grants was nearly twice that for…

Sixteen premedical students from underrepresented minority groups participated in a six-week, six-course program at the Chicago College of Osteopathic Medicine (Illinois). Academic performance before and during program participation was compared for students subsequently offered or denied admission. Accepted and denied students could be…

A study examined the relationship between medical students' background and their attitudes toward being trained or working as doctors in rural areas. Surveys of 97 first-year medical students at an Australian university indicated that students from rural backgrounds were more willing than urban students to be trained and to work in rural areas.…