Describes a new program at Gavilan College, California, that introduces Allied Health students and faculty to information technologies. States that the program's goal is to reconfigure Allied Health curriculum to reflect the impact of information technology on the health professions by inserting information competency components into courses.…

A clinical experience program provided 29 rural Australian allied health professionals with experience in pediatric clinical areas and opportunities to share clinical knowledge and develop networks with metropolitan peers. Questionnaires and focus groups indicated that networking, clinical skills, knowledge, confidence, and awareness of rural…

With the support of outreach library services and visits by university-based faculty, area health education centers improve a rural community's ability to recruit, retain, and keep up-to-date primary care physicians and other health manpower. North Carolina is an example of this enhanced professional environment. (Author/MSE)

A study of 82 occupational therapy, 84 physicians' assistant, and 117 physical therapy students found that scores on the Otis Quick-Scoring Mental Abilities Tests, admissions essays, number of credits earned at a previous institution, and cumulative grade point average were significant predictors of students' academic success. (SK)

Describes the INMED (Indians into Medicine) program, which helps American Indian secondary students prepare for medical and health careers. Focuses on the INMED summer institute, an intensive five-week science and math enrichment program at the University of North Dakota, Grand Forks. (SV)

A national center for health professions education research is proposed to facilitate well-funded, peer-reviewed, and academically credible research in health professions education. The center's goal would be to allow for the testing of models to provide education grounded in sound methodology and content. (Author/MSE)

Economic and social trends that will affect the health care system are examined, including federal health care reform efforts, federal budget trimming through managed care and cost-cutting, declines in state spending, adoption of single-payer systems, growing competition in the private sector (mergers, alliances, acquisitions), dominance of health…

A survey of chief academic officers and faculty (n=27) in 16 schools of optometry found that, since 1986, there has been a 75% increase in institutions requiring coursework in geriatric optometry and an 83% increase in those offering continuing professional education in this field. However, 67% of faculty report no formal training. Three faculty…

Work-based learning is essential to career-related education models. Committed to developing work-related programs for all interested students, teachers in California health career academies have created a curriculum sequence meeting all University of California admission requirements while stressing practical work skills. They are also developing…

This article argues that computerized representations of anatomy can integrate both the spatial and symbolic domains of learning better than traditional anatomical representations. A project at the University of Washington is developing a Digital Anatomist Program, multimedia software that can be used on currently-available desktop computers.…

Implications of competency-based education for dental assistants and hygienists are examined. Such an approach would provide assistance in defining evolving roles in delivery of dental care; help in defining national competencies and analyzing appropriateness of current care; and a mechanism for developing curriculum that responds to community…

A survey of 156 dental hygiene education programs, a majority in community colleges, investigated whether and to what extent they taught nonsurgical gingival curettage. Faculty attitudes about teaching the technique, reasons for not teaching it, and reasons for wanting to include it in their programs were also elicited. (MSE)

The article compares health care costs, insurance claims paid to practitioners, distribution of health care costs, numbers and ratios of practitioners, infant and neonatal mortality rates, for-profit organizations, underserved groups, technology, quality control, cure vs. care, prevention, and specific health care problems in the United States and…

Provides an overview of professions working in multidisciplinary health promotion and disease prevention efforts, focusing on medical specialties, public health, behavioral medicine, health psychology, health education, and health behavior. Major challenges general to all the fields include reimbursement, priorities, professional preparation,…

Medical faculty must ensure that students understand the appropriate balance between financial and professional considerations. Faculty should place financial considerations in proper perspective and should teach the basic components of professionalism, how current cost-containment efforts may threaten medicine's professional status, appropriate…