A study to assess medical students' attitudes about the diagnostic value of the history and physical examination, as compared with diagnostic testing, examined attitudes at the beginning of ward rotations and during the clerkship. It was found that students beginning clinical rotations have respect for the value of these procedures and are…

A study of 184 third-year medical students randomly assigned to ambulatory care and traditional inpatient curricula in an internal medicine clerkship found those with the ambulatory care experience were somewhat more likely to choose an ambulatory care career than those in the traditional curriculum. However, the clerkship experience did not…

The authors describe the development and administration of a substance use attitudes questionnaire to social work students and clinicians, physician assistant students and practitioners, and medical interns. The general purpose for the Attitudes Survey was to collect baseline data regarding past training, current attitudes, beliefs, practices, and…

A study was conducted to assess the knowledge of nutrition of family practitioners and general internists and first- and second-year medical students before they had received medical school instruction in clinical nutrition. The physicians scored better on topics most heavily researched and worse on less heavily investigated topics. (Author/MLW)

The outcome of a simulated clinical problem (drug-induced agranulocytosis) was compared with the outcome of similar cases in real medical service. The total performance of 100 sixth-year medical students at the end of their clerkship in internal medicine resulted in a mortality of 10 percent in the simulation exercise. (Editor/LBH)

Responses to questionnaires were compared between 106 students in nursing homes with those of 171 students in hospitals to evaluate interview and physical examination instruction for medical students. The nursing home was assessed as an appropriate alternative site for teaching the medical interview and physical diagnosis. (GLR)

Objectives: To assess the incidents of patient-initiated assault (PIA) against clinical clerks during the first six months of clinical clerkship. To characterise the assaults with respect to service, location, clerk gender, patient gender. To examine the students' perceptions of the reporting process for PIA. Methods: A brief email survey was sent…

The structure and the development of an internal medicine clerkship designed to promote proficiency in the process of clinical reasoning is described. A "student ward" offers a structured environment where the emphasis is on in-depth clinical exposure and the acquisition of clinical knowledge. (Author/MLW)

The teaching of clinical skills and the supervision of clinical education of undergraduate medical students were studied by reviewing students' patient-related experiences in required internal medicine clerkships in the United States and Canada during the 1979-82 accreditation cycle of the Liaison Committee on Medical Education. (Author/MLW)

A two-week elective to introduce medical students to primary care internal medicine was developed and evaluated. Course time is divided between conference sessions and office experience. Evaluations by students consisted of a questionnaire of conference topics, the student's ability to carry out course objectives, and the preceptor's teaching…

A summary of what is generally thought to be taught well in internal medicine and what is taught less effectively is presented. The roles of medical students are considered in that context. Teaching contributions, evaluation of teaching, problems on clerkships, and opportunities for change are discussed. (MLW)

Projected labor shortages in psychiatry have prompted studies identifying factors that influence medical students in career choice. Self-images as individuals were compared with professional images of psychiatrists using subjects from internal medicine as a control group. (Author/MLW)

Satisfaction of students in each of three years of residency are reported for these program elements: degree of responsibility for patient care, educational experience, support from superiors and peers, quality of work experience, leisure time, salary, job and support group availability for spouses, location, and patients' socioeconomic status.…

In an attempt to replicate an earlier study by H. G. Schmidt, H. P. A. Boshuizen, and P. P. M. Hobus (1988), 96 students and physicians at the University of Limburg (Netherlands) studied 4 clinical cases, produced a diagnosis, and recalled each case. Subjects were 24 second-year, 24 fourth-year, and 24 sixth-year medical students and 24 internists…

In the present study, task instruction and lab data format were manipulated to explain the discrepancy between the positive linear recall function with expertise (reported by van de Wiel and others, 1993), and the generally found intermediate effect in clinical case recall. Sixteen second-year medical students, 16 fourth-year students, and 16…