The initial phase of the Primary Care Education Program, a course of instruction for a limited number of students at the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, is described. It was designed to increase knowledge of primary care and doctor-patient relationship, and knowledge of a variety of modes of structuring health care…

A survey of 314 medical students before and after a required third-year internal medicine clerkship found differences between students choosing primary care and subspecialties, while undecided students shifted between those groups on several items. Results suggest the clerkship may affect students' image of primary care. (Author/MSE)

Medical student organizations, such as the American Medical Student Association, the Association of American Medical Colleges' Organization of Student Representatives, and the American Academy of Family Physicians' National Congress of Student Members, are responding to the increased need for generalist physicians, through community-based…

A study of factors influencing medical students to choose primary care careers, in contrast with high-technology careers, found students attracted by opportunity to provide direct care, ambulatory care, continuity of care, and involvement in psychosocial aspects of care. Age, race, gender, marital status, and some attitudes were not influential.…

This study is an attempt to model the similarities of 84 medical schools with respect to their orientations toward applicants qualified for research and applicants interested in delivering primary care or locating in non-urban settings. These characteristics are defined in 17 institutional variables. The patterns of insti(utional similarity are…

The audit of medical care in primary care practices has proven to be a valuable tool for teaching the essentials of efficient health care delivery to medical students at the University of Vermont. Practice standards and methods are continually revised based on the audit of the providers of care and the curriculum is updated based on student…

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…

The variables affecting ratings of the importance of biopsychosocial versus biomedical assessments are examined. It was hypothesized that students would perceive the relative importance of biomedical and biopsychosocial assessments differentially based on the diagnoses of the patients and the students' level of training. (MLW)

An opportunity for medical students to observe and interact with children in a setting outside the clinical environment was introduced as part of ambulatory pediatric clerkship training. Evaluation of the program indicated its overall effectiveness as well as areas for which changes are suggested. (LBH)

A study of medical students' pre-medical-school and graduation specialty preferences examined sex differences in selection of pediatrics at both points and changes from preference for pediatrics. Half those abandoning early preference for pediatrics stayed within primary care. More shifted from family practice to pediatrics than kept their…

A University of South Florida program giving medical students four years of primary care training was found to have little effect on specialty choice of its graduates (n=93 students), when compared to students who volunteered for the program but did not enter it or who did not volunteer. (MSE)

Using data from a longitudinal study of medical students at Jefferson Medical College, the authors analyzed trends in senior student interest in primary care specialties between 1971 and 1975 and selected background characteristics and performance levels of students choosing family medicine compared with those in other specialties. (Author/LBH)

A three-stage plan was conceived by a multidisciplinary, multiprofessional staff that encompassed behaviorally oriented educational objectives, instructional methodologies for the objectives, and evaluation instruments. The resulting curriculum focused on issues important to team delivery of primary care. (LBH)

Medical schools must use selection methods that validly measure applicants' noncognitive qualities, but primary-care (PC) schools have a particular need. This study correlated entering students' personality and values scores with their professed interest in PC. 93 medical students completed instruments assessing personality (16PF & PSP), values,…

A preceptorship program design to introduce preclinical students to primary care in both underserved and adequately served communities is described. A preliminary evaluation of the program's first year indicates that it has had an impact on the students' attitudes. (Author/MLW)