The University of Minnesota internal medicine residency program of ambulatory general medicine rotations in rural communities and urban managed care settings is described. Development and structure of rotations, objectives, teaching strategies, faculty development, evaluation system, and elements of successful implementation are discussed.…

Medical education's current goal of producing 50% generalists, composed of practitioners in internal medicine, family practice, and pediatrics, is examined. Issues include the definition of generalist, the number of generalists needed, changes needed in graduate and undergraduate medical education, changes needed in the practice environment, and…

A study investigated the availability of each of 19 medical school support services offered by 493 residencies in 6 specialties: family practice; internal medicine; obstetrics/gynecology; pediatrics; psychiatry; and surgery. Results show many specialties do not offer common, effective support services. It is suggested that programs move to…

A survey of 1,139 Virginia family practitioners and internal medicine specialists investigated interest in pursuing geriatric education, including such factors as preferred form of education, preferred topics, intent to take the geriatric medicine qualifying examination, geriatric care provided, home visits, prior participation in geriatrics…

A study investigated the effect of participation in an intensive internal medicine conference series during a third-year medicine clerkship (n=173 students) on medical licensing examination scores and compared this with scores in surgery and pediatrics and scores of 466 students not participating in the conference. Better test performance on the…

A survey of 250 accredited internal medicine training sites in the United States revealed that only 6% offered formal training in telephone medicine to their residents, usually consisting of single lectures or reading materials. A majority of respondents felt telephone management training was very important and should be part of every internal…

A study assessed effectiveness of instruction designed to train internal-medical-clerkship students in productive use of feedback from residents and attending physicians (APs) to improve performance. The workshop focused on writing goals in a learning contract, defining characteristics of effective feedback, and practicing use of feedback in…

Context: Rural elderly patients are faced with numerous challenges in accessing care. Additional strains to access may be occurring given recent market pressures, which would have significant impact on this vulnerable population. Purpose: This study focused on the practice patterns and future plans of rural Florida physicians who routinely see…

The authors describe the development and administration of a substance use attitudes questionnaire to social work students and clinicians, physician assistant students and practitioners, and medical interns. The general purpose for the Attitudes Survey was to collect baseline data regarding past training, current attitudes, beliefs, practices, and…

Information seeking strategies that primary care physicians use to supplement their knowledge in problem solving were studied to help tailor continuing medical education (CME) courses for various groups of physicians. Of interest were: the sequences physicians use to access different sources, variability among physicians in information search…

Over a 4-year period moral reasoning and performance data were studied on 350 resident pediatricians, internists, and practitioners of family medicine from seven different institutions. Clinical performance was measured by faculty ratings, and integrity (moral reasoning) was measured by Kohlberg's Standard of Moral Judgement Interview and Rest's…

The ways in which residents fulfill their teaching responsibilities were examined. First- and second-year internal medicine residents were observed as they reviewed cases during work rounds. The most frequently observed teaching behaviors were associated with patient care: providing a role model. (Author/MLW)

A preceptorship in an internal medicine clerkship at Southern Illinois University School of Medicine is discussed and evaluated. The results of a telephone survey indicate that the preceptorship had an important impact on the students, who learned time management, office management, and management of chronic clinical problems. (MLW)

A cost containment program initiated in 1975 on the medical teaching service of Charlotte Memorial Hospital, a University of North Carolina affiliated hospital, has led to a significant improvement in hospital house staff utilization of facilities and procedures. In the outpatient setting an actual reduction in patient-encounter cost was realized…

Perceptions of students who would have elected a preceptorship rotation had it not been required were compared with those of students who participated only to fulfill the requirement. Both groups perceived an increase in knowledge of primary care practices and confidence in relevant clinical skills. (Author/LBH)