Participants in the January 1999 Internet World Conference on Biomedical Sciences will meet and communicate solely in cyberspace. In many respects, the conference will be traditional, with 56 symposia on 15 biomedical subjects, but participants avoid registration fees and travel costs. Japanese universities conducted four previous conferences,…

Describes a laboratory protocol optimizing the conditions for the assay of pepsin activity using the Coomasie Blue dye binding assay of protein concentration. The dye bonds through strong, noncovalent interactions to basic and aromatic amino acid residues. (DDR)

Discusses applications of recombinant DNA technology and the controversies surrounding that technique. Provides a cooperative learning project idea that involves teams of students investigating and debating these issues. (DDR)

The debate over whether there is an oversupply of doctorates in the biomedical sciences is examined, and a case study of doctoral graduates and postdoctoral fellows at the Tulane University (Louisiana) Medical Center is reported. It is concluded that there is no biomedical doctoral glut and that doctoral program downsizing would have serious…

There is increasing pressure, both from institutions central to the national scientific mission and from regional and national accrediting agencies, on natural sciences faculty to move beyond course examinations as measures of student performance and to instead develop and use reliable and valid authentic assessment measures for both individual…

In 1988, Harvard University unveiled plans for Medical Science Partners (MSP), a venture capital fund intended to invest in and commercialize faculty biomedical projects. Critical of what is perceived as a "15 year long trend" wherein Harvard has "forged deeper and more extensive ties with the biomedical industry," the document…

This is the first of three volumes which presents the Committee on Biomedical and Behavioral Research Personnel's examination of the educational process that leads to doctoral degrees in biomedical and behavioral science (and to postdoctoral study in some cases) and the role of the National Research Service Awards (NRSA) training programs in it.…

Volume Three of the Biomedical and Behavioral Research Scientists study contains five commissioned papers. The first paper, "Evaluating the National Research Service Award Program (NRSA): A Review and Recommendations for the Future," (Georgina M. Pion) reviews previous evaluation activities of the NRSA program and proposes an agenda describing the…

Techniques for improving the lecture and notetaking skills of students in the biological and biomedical sciences are presented in this guide. These students frequently find the need to re-organize existing notetaking skills because of the vast amount of material that has to be learned and the importance of efficient learning to the process of…

Problems and solutions related to a determination of faculty resources for a health professions education college consisting of two allopathic medical schools, an osteopathic medical school, a dental school, a graduate school of biomedical sciences, and a school of allied health professions are discussed. Curriculum descriptions and construction…

Undergraduate science education at liberal arts colleges and historically Black institutions will be the focus of a program of grants given by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. Colleges were invited to submit proposals to strengthen their biology, chemistry, mathematics, and physics programs. (MLW)

This meeting proceedings provide a forum for the program directors to discuss various educational challenges facing undergraduate science departments and to learn how their colleagues in other institutions are addressing the same challenges. The meeting theme was New Tools for Science Education and participants examined issues related to how new…

Describes a college course designed to explicate the political dimensions of biomedical issues now emerging in American society. The course combines a rigorous overview of the technologies and the accompanying value changes which are producing these issues with a discussion of the problems being raised. (RM)

An interdisciplinary program is described that provides a humanistically-oriented education for preprofessional students, particularly those in the health sciences. The program offers new and diverse courses for the humanities student and was instrumental in the establishment of a Center for Science and Culture. (Author/MLW)

Describes the use of a short, fictional story about a woman's surgery to illustrate issues and promote discussion about biomedical ethics, particularly the issue of informed consent. Discussion connects the personal story with specific litigation, comparing legal requirements and ethical responsibility in physician-patient communication. (MSE)