A conceptual framework for developing pharmacy curricula to provide students with introductory practice experiences (IPEs) is outlined, including the rationale, educational objectives and outcomes, and desired characteristics of these experiences. Pharmacy literature concerning early practice experiences is also reviewed. Models and desired…

Although medical education currently emphasizes problem solving skills, recent evidence from psychological studies of clinical reasoning suggests that medical expertise is characterized by the gradual accumulation of experience in memory. This results in an ability to perceive, organize, and recall the extensive information given by the patient.…

Medical education research indicates little has been done to improve teaching effectiveness of attending physicians on hospital wards. Moreover, there have been few studies to determine what the attending physician should attempt to accomplish with medical school trainees. More data collected in clinical settings are needed. (RD)

Examines origins of clinical sociology as a behavioral science discipline in the humanist and normative tradition, stresses that clinical sociology is a form of sociological practice, and discusses training and employment in the field of clinical sociology. (Author/DB)

A review of 85 articles published 1984-93 on the effects of medical school curricula, faculty role models, and federal biomedical research support on the specialty choices of medical students suggests effective strategies to enlarge the proportion of medical students choosing generalist careers including institutional reform to emphasize…

Literature relating to continuity of medical care, including efforts to teach it to medical students is reviewed, and a University of Washington family medicine preceptorship for teaching continuity is described. An evaluation of the program, which places students with physicians so they can follow the care of a family, is presented. (Author/JMD)

In Australia the usual evaluation of whether a student will perform adequately as a doctor is a subjective evaluation of his clinical performance, usually at the completion of five or six years at medical school. The evaluation is performed on an inadequate and uncontrolled patient sample and appears to be subject to many errors. Recent work…

A report on teaching in the clinical component of physician's assistant (PA) training programs is presented, based on information obtained through the authors' involvement in a PA faculty development project, and surveys of program directors and faculty. Topics include teacher qualifications, teaching methods and resources, and instructional…

A literature review reveals differing conceptions of the learning outcomes achieved through practicums (workplace learning) in professional education. Five distinct approaches to student assessment are examined. Integration of the practicum with the instructional program provides opportunities for students to bring together a range of knowledge…

A study explored the notion that moral reasoning skills are important to the provision of pharmaceutical care. It compared the moral reasoning skills of two classes of pharmacy students with those of practitioners who scored high on measures of pharmaceutical care and clinical decision making. Implications for pharmacy school admissions and…

The 26 papers focus on child abuse issues affecting the Mexican American family. The keynote address notes various issues in child abuse and neglect among Mexican Americans. Three papers discuss Mexican American families in transition, adjustment of the family into the Mexican American barrio and vice versa, and the effects of sexual assault on…