A survey of departments of internal medicine to assess information about requirements for ambulatory clinical experiences for medical students is discussed. The survey yielded information on status, reasons for ambulatory care training, characteristics, goals, structure, ratings, problems, and difficulties for students. (Author/MLW)

The study analyzed subjective grades, clerkship examination scores, and National Board of Medical Examiners, Part I scores of 537 third year medical students. Findings indicated that students' scores on clerkship examinations improved as the academic year progressed but that clerkship site (community-affiliated hospital or medical center hospital)…

In July 1989 the American Board of Emergency Medicine conducted a field test of the oral recertification examination process. Sixteen examiners and 25 examinees participated in the field test. The examination included 3 chart-stimulated recall and 3 simulated-patient encounter cases. (MLW)

Explains the development of the Teaching Matrix, a model designed to encourage clinician-teachers to reflect on their teaching before, during, and after each teaching session. The model focuses on who and what is being taught, how the material is being taught, student comprehension, and self-assessment. (MDM)

A survey of medicine clerkship directors in 101 United States and Puerto Rican medical schools found descriptor grades the most commonly used, letter grades next most common, and numerical grading systems used by 4 schools. However, there was a lack of consistency in the descriptor grades used. (Author/MSE)

One third-year clinical clerkship in pediatrics has included Sherlock Holmes mysteries in its introductory curriculum, providing students with a model clinical problem-solving process and a list of issues on which they will need information. The nonclinical cases provide an effective and entertaining vehicle for learning clinical reasoning. (MSE)

A comparison of the experiences of 683 surgery students taking preceptorships in community hospitals and 696 taking only university-based rotations found no significant differences in individual characteristics, academic performance, choice of specialty for the first postgraduate year, or program director evaluations. The preceptorships were…

Presents a classification of community-based medical education. Distinguishes between programs developed primarily to provide services to underserved communities; programs with a research focus; and programs that have student clinical training as their primary goal. The taxonomy is intended to contribute to development of a theory of…

In a documentation system designed to monitor medical student progress in clerkships at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, students completed an optical scan card for each patient seen, eliciting information on the patient and the experience. Results highlight students' lack of certain experiences and allow comparison of student…

Health maintenance organizations (HMOs) medical directors and academics (N=450) explored the barriers to and incentives for cooperation between academic medical centers (AMCs) and HMOs in clinical education. AMCs need to be prepared to offer meaningful academic and financial inducements to attract HMOs to participate in teaching. (Author/MLW)

Nurses must leave nursing to advance their careers. A rigorous preprofessional science preparation and nursing education at the baccalaureate level followed by a clinical internship is proposed. Nurses would be able to achieve specialty education either by graduate education or through experience and continuing nursing education. (Author/MLW)

The authors report their findings concerning the process used to evaluate medicine clerks, specifically identifying the importance given to subjective evaluations, made by attending physicians, compared with the importance given to clerks' performances on objective means of evaluation based on written or oral examinations, whether national or…

Third-year medical students prepared case studies involving ethical issues, drawn from clinical experience. A study of the quality of the projects, the types of ethical issues raised, and attitudes expressed in them revealed limited student understanding of the range of ethical issues and widespread disagreement with physician handling of cases.…

A medical humanities program emphasizing clinically oriented training is described. The four-year required curriculum, in which students accompany attending physicians on rounds, is taught by faculty representing a wide range of medical and non-medical disciplines. The approach is seen to challenge good teachers and evoke humanities themes from…

The use of student health centers at California higher education institutions as medical student training sites in 1988 is documented. Directors of the 28 residency programs using student health centers for their residents reported satisfaction with the association, and health center directors with residents on rotation also reported overall…