Rural health care can thrive if innovative tactics are used. Four principles can influence health care services: (1) an integrative approach is needed; (2) recognition that competition is a dominant mode; (3) cultural and professional ethnocentricity are counterproductive; and (4) the possibilities are limitless. (Author/MSE)

It is proposed that the need for collaboration between physicians and nurses is increasing with new health care needs and delivery systems, and that practitioners and educators must help improve the relationship. The phenomenon of collaboration, reasons for promoting it, barriers to achieving collaborative relationships, and change strategies are…

Authorship patterns for medicine department chairperson were analyzed for the period 1979-90, a period when authorship criteria were widely debated. Results indicate that medical journals' changes in definition of authorship did not decrease the number of articles for which the chairperson were last authors and significantly increased the number…

A program used role playing to help physicians and nurses to understand problems in gaining patient compliance with medical regimens. Practitioners found they gained insight into sources of patient noncompliance and were able to generalize the experience to later interactions with patients. (Author/MSE)

Logs completed by 201 medical students in third-year clerkships at nine community-based hospitals indicated students received 6.5 hours of teaching with an instructor daily, spending 4.9 more hours in clerkship-related learning. Most teaching was by full-time faculty and residents. In half their educational activities, students participated with…

An imaginary curriculum on use of information technology for medical purposes is described. The six core courses address these topics: introduction to complexity; decisions and outcomes; scarcity and conflict; teamwork and organizations; representing knowledge and action; and groupware and collaboration. The curriculum is based on the conception…

This study interviewed 263 persons to examine the organization, functions, activities, and effects of the national Area Health Education Center (AHEC) program. The findings describe a national network of school and community partnerships engaged in planning and implementing educational activities responsive to changing health care needs.…

A survey of medical school faculty (n=135) found that most respondents saw 32 of 77 exit objectives for medical students as essential. These objectives included general clinical, cognitive, and interpersonal skills. Objectives relating to diagnosis and management of specific conditions were deemed useful but not essential at the undergraduate…