A comprehensive program to evaluate and improve a medical school's instruction is described. The system integrates quantitative measures of teaching, descriptive documentation, and qualitative judgments on the full spectrum of medical instruction. Results of two studies showing instructional improvement and academic promotions as a result of the…

At the University of Minnesota Affiliated Hospitals Residency Training Program in Family Practice and Community Health, internal investigators examined the entire affiliated program (the largest family practice residency program in the U.S.) from such aspects as a description of the residents to the administration of affiliated units. Methods and…

A program evaluation protocol is outlined for a faculty member or committee to adapt to a course, curriculum, or program. The plan includes development of evaluation rationale, identification of audiences, delineation of questions, development of methodology, establishment of data collection mechanism, and writing of a report. (JT)

Baylor College of Medicine's system for evaluating the clinical progress of anesthesiology residents, developed in response to problems of standards, staff cooperation, and student dissatisfaction with evaluation, assesses resident progress in terms of performance levels based on case complexity and degree of staff intervention. (Author/MSE)

A study of faculty and student attitudes toward medical student self-evaluation and comparison of faculty and student evaluations of student performance revealed that the opportunity for self-evaluation was both useful and appreciated. Faculty and student ratings correlated closely. (MSE)

At the University of Miami Department of Family Medicine, resident peer review committees have sole responsibility for the peer review process and share responsibility with faculty committees for evaluation, discipline, promotion, certification, and dismissal of interns and residents. The review process and methods are discussed. (JMD)

The long-term effectiveness of a course for residents on how to teach students, patients, and peers was examined. Three types of evaluation data were collected: self-ratings by the residents, questionnaires completed by the residents, and ratings completed by students taught by the residents. (MLW)

The Chesapeake Health Plan, a Baltimore-based health maintenance organization (HMO), works cooperatively with Baltimore City Hospitals, a teaching affiliate of Johns Hopkins University. Their mutual involvement includes a quality evaluation program of the HMO. The program incorporates peer review and focuses on prevention or reduction of…

A comparison of traditional objective measures of student clerkship performance (final examination grade and National Board of Medical Examiners Part II test) and subjective evaluations by attending physicians found that the two methods measure different aspects of performance and had relatively low correlations. (MSE)

A survey to determine the use of student ratings of instruction in medical education is reported. Results indicate that student ratings are widely used, that both standardized and nonstandardized forms are used, that ratings are often administered exclusively by one agent, and that administrators often have access to results. (JMD)

In developing a community medicine course with a lecture-seminar form, the University of Kentucky College of Medicine used a peer review process in which proposed lectures and seminar materials were presented to the faculty who played the role of students as well as peer reviewers. The process was considered valuable. (JT)

Describes CSP (Case-Study Problem) to measure visual discrimination and skills in the interpretation and application of laboratory results. (PG)

The definition of primary care is developed and a way is suggested to measure whether it is being achieved. Evaluative questions are identified that can determine whether a system of care is oriented toward primary care. They include assessing first-contact care, coordination of care, comprehensiveness, and longitudinality. (LBH)

A case-based, problem-oriented, modular curriculum in geriatrics for medical students was evaluated to investigate whether: students would demonstrate cognitive knowledge gain, students' attitudes toward the elderly would change favorably, suggested activities would influence students' ratings, and which institutional characteristics facilitate…