An innovative internal medicine clerkship provides a one-month ambulatory care component followed by two months of traditional inpatient experience. Assessment of the changes in student ability to diagnose in a variety of brief cases found knowledge gains in the shorter ambulatory care segment were double those in the longer segment. (MSE)

This courseware evaluation rates the "Inflammation" program developed by Lane Community College in Eugene, Oregon. (This program--not contained in this document--introduces students to the possible causes, signs, and protective benefits of inflammation.) Part A describes the program in terms of subject area (allied health, nursing), and…

This courseware evaluation rates the "Introduction to Nursing Diagnosis" program developed by J.B. Lippincott Co. (The program--not included in this document--is a tutorial for second-year nursing students; it presents diagnosis as a mathematical formula). Part A describes the program in terms of subject area (allied health, nursing) and hardware…

A study investigated whether the more efficiently graded extended-matching questions were equivalent to short-answer questions in evaluating medical students' (n=98) ability to elicit physical findings and generate diagnoses and treatment plans, using standardized-patient examinations. The differences found in the two question types did not favor…

The computer-based PlanAlyzer program was designed to teach clinical diagnosis to medical students, taking into account several characteristics common to the clinical problem solver: limited capacity for short-term memory; use of heuristic strategies; sequential information seeking; and problem conceptualization. Six years of development and…

A study involving 14 experienced physicians investigated the effectiveness of a computer program (providing statistical feedback to teach a clinical diagnostic rule that predicts the probability of streptococcal pharyngitis), in conjunction with traditional lecture and periodic disease-prevalence reports. Results suggest the integrated method is a…

This paper presents an evaluation of two on-line-based programs designed to teach practice skills. One program teaches crisis intervention and the other teaches suicide assessment. The evaluation of the use of these programs compares outcomes for two groups of students, one using the interactive program outside a class context and the other using…