A survey of 64 pharmacy school deans revealed new deans' career patterns, factors perceived as beneficial to professional development, mentoring activities, and administrative skills viewed as important. Comparisons are made between new deans and those with at least five years' experience, and trends identified. Implications for career planning…

With the support of outreach library services and visits by university-based faculty, area health education centers improve a rural community's ability to recruit, retain, and keep up-to-date primary care physicians and other health manpower. North Carolina is an example of this enhanced professional environment. (Author/MSE)

Economic and social trends that will affect the health care system are examined, including federal health care reform efforts, federal budget trimming through managed care and cost-cutting, declines in state spending, adoption of single-payer systems, growing competition in the private sector (mergers, alliances, acquisitions), dominance of health…

A survey of chief academic officers and faculty (n=27) in 16 schools of optometry found that, since 1986, there has been a 75% increase in institutions requiring coursework in geriatric optometry and an 83% increase in those offering continuing professional education in this field. However, 67% of faculty report no formal training. Three faculty…

This article argues that computerized representations of anatomy can integrate both the spatial and symbolic domains of learning better than traditional anatomical representations. A project at the University of Washington is developing a Digital Anatomist Program, multimedia software that can be used on currently-available desktop computers.…

The article compares health care costs, insurance claims paid to practitioners, distribution of health care costs, numbers and ratios of practitioners, infant and neonatal mortality rates, for-profit organizations, underserved groups, technology, quality control, cure vs. care, prevention, and specific health care problems in the United States and…

Provides an overview of professions working in multidisciplinary health promotion and disease prevention efforts, focusing on medical specialties, public health, behavioral medicine, health psychology, health education, and health behavior. Major challenges general to all the fields include reimbursement, priorities, professional preparation,…

Medical faculty must ensure that students understand the appropriate balance between financial and professional considerations. Faculty should place financial considerations in proper perspective and should teach the basic components of professionalism, how current cost-containment efforts may threaten medicine's professional status, appropriate…

A University of Georgia study investigated the effectiveness of a Human Immunodeficiency Virus/Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (HIV/AIDS) intervention program on pharmacy student attitudes toward providing care for infected patients. Results of pre- and posttests with 290 students indicated that the program was successful in improving student…

The University of Maryland School of Pharmacy has developed a nontraditional doctor of pharmacy degree that requires students to meet the same terminal-performance objectives as the standard four-year PharmD degree. The program's design and evaluation are discussed, and suggestions are offered for improving the program to meet terminal-performance…

Examines two myths or misperceptions associated with premedical education, that of the "premedical syndrome" (over-achieving, competitive, cynical, and narrowly focused students), and the "cutthroat medical student" (competitive to the point of undermining others). The origins of the myths, the purposes they may serve, why they…

Because there are no universal standards for educational technology, curricular materials in medical education cannot be easily managed, reused, or shared with other educators and institutions. A standardized, object-oriented architecture is needed to facilitate these processes. The Instructional Management Systems specification, which has emerged…

Describes a technique designed to assess workforce availability and workload demands on family-medicine faculty at East Carolina University (North Carolina), using weeks per year as the unit of measurement. During the assessment period, a study revealed the department needed 2.8 additional faculty to cover existing work requirements and…

Suggests that formal classroom debate presents an opportunity for dental students to develop important learning/thinking skills and can be incorporated into coursework along with other active learning strategies. Discusses debate organization, presents rules of debate used in second-year dental school classes at the State University of New York,…

A study investigated whether a third-year medical clerkship evaluation system validly predicted students' later performance ratings during internships. Internship ratings of students needing remediation from 1986 to 1993 were compared with those of students voluntarily choosing fourth-year medicine. Results indicate the medicine clerkship…