A study investigated the effect of participation in an intensive internal medicine conference series during a third-year medicine clerkship (n=173 students) on medical licensing examination scores and compared this with scores in surgery and pediatrics and scores of 466 students not participating in the conference. Better test performance on the…

Over a 4-year period moral reasoning and performance data were studied on 350 resident pediatricians, internists, and practitioners of family medicine from seven different institutions. Clinical performance was measured by faculty ratings, and integrity (moral reasoning) was measured by Kohlberg's Standard of Moral Judgement Interview and Rest's…

A cost containment program initiated in 1975 on the medical teaching service of Charlotte Memorial Hospital, a University of North Carolina affiliated hospital, has led to a significant improvement in hospital house staff utilization of facilities and procedures. In the outpatient setting an actual reduction in patient-encounter cost was realized…

Perceptions of students who would have elected a preceptorship rotation had it not been required were compared with those of students who participated only to fulfill the requirement. Both groups perceived an increase in knowledge of primary care practices and confidence in relevant clinical skills. (Author/LBH)

Using data on 3,569 women and 15,582 men trained in internal medicine, this study investigated gender differences in choice of primary care practice and their possible relationship to training program type, traditional or primary care. Results indicate women pursued primary care more often than did men, regardless of training program completed.…

In an effort to encourage cost-conscious behavior and quality assurance, students in community medicine clerkships at the Medical College of Ohio were required to conduct retrospective reviews of their peers' laboratory usage patterns using information generated by these peers during internal medicine and pediatrics rotations. (Author/JMD)

A study compared scores on identical tests in internal medicine for two groups of graduating University of Toronto (Canada) medical students: those in a traditional, lecture-based curriculum (TC) and those in a redesigned curriculum with less didactic instruction and more clinical experience (NC). All comparisons showed a significantly higher…

A study compared the performances of Wake Forest University (North Carolina) medical students rotating through an internal medicine program, 88 in a problem-based curriculum and 364 in a lecture-based curriculum. Students in the problem-based curriculum received significantly higher ratings from house staff and faculty on four clinical rating…

A cancer attitude survey is analyzed that was administered to residents and faculty physicians in the departments of Family Medicine, Internal Medicine, and Human Oncology at the University of Wisconsin. Categories surveyed include opinions about the benefits of prevention, risk management, early detection and screening, treatment and care, and…

Attitudes of 120 residents from three teaching hospitals about psychosocial aspects of patient care and the feasibility of teaching psychosocial skills to residents were compared to those of 86 practicing internists, 42 psychiatrists, 29 academic general internists, and 63 surgeons. The newly developed scale was seen as useful in evaluating…

A study of 99 international graduate medical students in an internal medicine program compared performance on two standardized English-language-proficiency tests with three measures of success: patient satisfaction; faculty and colleague evaluations; and scores on an objective test of medical knowledge. Patient satisfaction and faculty/colleague…