The centrality of service learning in the development of students' professional practice has received worldwide attention. Exposure to appropriately designed service learning experience determines the acquisition of graduate attributes. This article addresses a study in which the key question was: What methods and strategies do students and their…

A clinical decision-making simulation that helps students understand the relationship between psychosocial factors and medical problem-solving is described. A group of medical students and one faculty member comprise a selection committee to agree on the order in which four patients will be selected for renal dialysis. (MLW)

The authors have found written simulations to be a useful tool for evaluation of the clinical performance of doctor of pharmacy students. An example of a simulation and the scoring technique are presented, and use of the simulations as an educational/counseling tool are discussed. (JMD)

At Louisiana State University School of Veterinary Medicine, training in preventive medicine is incorporated into all four years of the curriculum. The curriculum is described with focus on the fourth year practical course that involves problem solving, using various herds in the area. (JMD)

Randomly selected clinical teaching sessions in a University of Illinois medical school clerkship were videotaped. A verbal behavior classification schedule was used to analyze the proportion of talking done by the instructors and students involved. The data suggest that teaching was not optimal for promoting problem-solving ability. (Author/JMD)

A total of 482 third- and fourth-year medical students were rated over four-week periods, by multiple raters, house officers, and attending faculty, on 15 behavior rating scales. The data were factor analyzed, revealing two consistently appearing factors: interpersonal skills and problem solving. (Author/GDC)

The use of modified essay questions (MEQs), developed at the University of Newcastle to assess clinical problem-solving, is reported. Reliability estimates as high as 0.91 were reported. The validity of assessment by MEQ was based on one model of medical problem-solving and another of cognitive skill taxonomies. (Author/MLW)

A problem solving case method of teaching practical pathology is described, illustrated, and compared with more traditional teaching methods. Advantages include: emphasis of the relevance of pathology to clinical medicine; encouragement of self-assessment; economy of equipment costs and staff time. (Author/LBH)

A study is reported that investigates the validity of written simulations designed to evaluate the problem-solving behavior of pharmacy students studying therapeutics. Results with the written simulations are correlated with test scores from the course's objective examinations and with clinical clerkship evaluations. (JMD)