A step-by-step technique to alter stock composition teeth and create simulated carious conditions that are ideal or otherwise is presented. The procedures provide the student with life-like lesions, suitable in texture and location and similar to conditions found in the oral cavity. (MLW)

A simulation of the decreased visual acuity of individuals with amblyopia is used in one optometry program to help students understand how amblyopia patients see. Students act as patient, then as doctor, proceeding through clinical diagnosis. (MSE)

Work is continuing at the University of Illinois at the Medical Center to simulate additional medically significant odors and to incorporate them into instructional and evaluation materials. Already studied are breath and urine odors used in the diagnosis of clinical conditions. (LBH)

Used a standardized treatment planning simulation and a process tracing strategy to qualitatively examine how mental health clinicians (N=15) solved a typical client management problem. Results showed that respondents used descriptive rather than formal diagnostic terms and that strategies varied with training and experience. (LLL)

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)

A study at the University of Washington affirmed that medical students learn more and rate the learning experience higher when the "Gynny" anthropomorphic pelvic model is included in the instructional sequence than when it is not. (MLW)

The study examined how 3 medical information-gathering processes (history-taking, physical examination, and diagnostic studies) influenced 175 second-year medical students' formulations of the differential and the principal diagnoses of 14 simulated patient management problems in comparison with experienced clinicians. Students emphasized…

The problem of acute pulmonary embolism is employed to illustrate that medical decision analysis is possible despite some of the difficulties encountered in previous application. The usefulness of computerized decision models is discussed. (LBH)

Sixteen community residents with relatively stable respiratory, cardiovascular, musculoskeletal, or neurological findings were recruited and trained as instructor-patients to teach the technical elements of the examination of an affected organ system. Faculty recruitment, instructor-patient recruitment and training, and evaluation are discussed.…

"Diagnose" is a computer-assisted instruction lesson designed to give medical students experience in using deductive reasoning in diagnosis. The computer selects a mystery disease from a stored list, along with 12 randomly-selected clues--three indicators of presenting complaints, history, physical findings, and laboratory tests. (LBH)

Results obtained from a study designed to assess the effectiveness of teaching with heart sound simulation in improving skill in clinical ausculation suggest the usefulness of further study, particularly that involving comparison techniques. (JT)

Advances have been made in testing optometrists' clinical skills, particularly with the use of simulation techniques. Further research into these techniques will probably receive the most attention, although a shift in research emphasis from correlational studies of test validity and reliability to test development studies is needed. (MSE)

An effective evaluation of the acutely ill female implies a thorough examination that integrates skills representing three learning domains. This process should include: a thorough medical history, a physical examination, good patient-physician rapport, and development of an efficacious management plan. A University of Iowa simulation approach is…

A technique for simulating the papulosquamous skin diseases, using a computer, has been developed and tested with medical students and dermatologists to determine whether this type of simulation is suitable for training students in dermatological diagnosis. The results indicate that it appears to be feasible for training students in differential…

Because of the difficulty in instructing students in pediatric physical examination and because of the previously proven usefulness of simulators in medical education, Indiana University School of Medicine has developed a family of infant simulators for use in their pediatric education program. Four models are discribed. (LBH)