A method of estimating the number of house officers needed for direct patient care in teaching hospitals is discussed. An application of the proposed method is illustrated for 11 clinical services at the Los Angeles County-University of Southern California Medical Center. (Author/MLW)

Focuses on the relationship of accountability to the educator's ability to conduct inquiry into personal professional roles and to provide assistance to professional peers who are conducting similar inquiries. A positive intervention model is developed by emphasizing the educational experience of the practitioner. (Editor/RK)

The author suggests that attempts to strengthen clinical specialty training must begin with a coordinated effort on the part of all schools to establish graduate clinical education as a fundamental, important and independent element of their academic programs. (LBH)

An analysis of programs and positions in the first year of graduate medical education regarded as acceptable by U.S. medical students suggests that the ratio for all positions is about one per graduate and even less in primary care programs. (Editor/LBH)

A study examined trends in the volume and type of inpatient clinical diagnoses, common medical services, and specialized services in academic medical centers (AMCs)--integrated and independent, other teaching hospitals, and nonteaching hospitals. Results indicate that despite rapid change in the health care environment, little change has occurred…

Analysis of the most recent self-study reports of 46 teacher preparation programs approved by the Council on Education of the Deaf yielded data on program demographics, curriculum and content, faculty, practicum, students, and graduates. Comparison with a 1986 survey suggests a decline in program numbers but increases in number of specializations…

Medical school faculty members' broad understanding of their domains has atrophied as specialization has increased. Medical students need teachers who can integrate the specific areas of a subject with overarching themes. Expanding the values of the university to once again include the scholarship of integration and teaching would provide the best…

A rigorous approach to conducting nonstatistical meta-analyses of research literature is presented and illustrated in a study of literature on primary care medical specialty choice. The approach described includes model development, literature retrieval and coding, quality rating, annotation of high-quality references, and synthesizing the subset…

A study investigated relationships between specialty choice, success in obtaining residency choice, race (particularly underrepresented minorities), and gender among 14,450 medical residency matching program participants. Patterns of specialty switching after the first year of residency were also examined. Detailed tables of results and…

One reason medical students favor specialization over generalist medicine (primary care) is a perception of generalist medicine as nonrigorous. Chaos science, a new field, reveals an intellectual basis for generalist medicine. The history, strengths, and limits of reductionist thinking in medicine and aspects of chaos theory illuminate this…

Analysis of data from an annual graduating medical students' survey revealed that a required third-year family medicine clerkship of at least four weeks is associated with a higher percentage of students choosing training and specialty certification in family practice. Whether clerkship inspires or reinforces preexisting choices is not indicated.…

This study provides an overview of the effects of a team approach to cataloging on productivity and morale. Eight institutions using team cataloging were surveyed to collect data on reasons for adopting team cataloging, sizes and composition of teams, team specialties, tasks, and workflow. Tables and figures display data. (Contains 12 references.)…

Issues emerging at a September 1993 Belgian conference on the relationship between higher education and employment are summarized, including reasons for reemergence of concern, key actors and constituents, need for further information about labor market needs, how to approach the need for system/institutional change, growth of specialized…

A survey of 723 medical school graduates investigated motivations for early specialty selections and later changes and factors involved in current specialty choice. Perceived match of personality and specialty, technology and methodology characteristic of specialty, and time for family were critical. Greater awareness of career lifestyles is…

Issues in vocational education in Europe are summarized. Varied strategies and emphases are noted including the introduction of more general education, increased emphasis on excellence in technical training, and increased specialization in some disciplines. Obstacles are also seen such as fear of overspecialization, lack of prestige, and…