Pharmacological education is presented as a continuous undertaking of preclinical students, clerks, and physicians and surgeons in training and practice. Goals are listed for the preclinical, clerkship, and residency stages of training, and the various actions which candidates should actually perform at each stage are defined. (Editor/JT)

It is difficult to evaluate the goals and effectiveness of programs to recruit and retain minority students in medical education by current methods. Management by objectives is proposed as an appropriate process for refining program goals and fairly evaluating the programs. (Author/MSE)

Faculty and residents in a family medicine program rated the degree of importance for a resident to have mastered national performance objectives, regarding the diagnosis and treatment of hypertension. The results indicate that disagreement was widespread. Implications for the use of objectives developed outside a program are discussed.…

Three models are described: an education model that focuses on educational objectives, teaching methods, and assessment; a social change model that considers the environment; and a problem-based model that focuses on the professional context and order of complexity of professional problems. (Author/MLW)

The curricular content and objectives of each department of the Chicago Medical School were reviewed by interdisciplinary faculty task forces to increase faculty awareness of each department's objectives and to provide a more objective basis for assigning class hours in the new expanded curriculum. (JMD)

A survey of physician's assistant program directors showed that they expect students to perform a history and physical examination, to establish a working diagnosis for most common problems and often to formulate a management plan. Extensive skills in patient education and counseling were also required. (MSE)

A competency-based curriculum model for teaching geriatrics in a family medicine residency is described that divides competencies under four major goals: understanding principles, obtaining and interpreting data, managing geriatric patients, and working in a health care team. Sample objectives, instructional methods, and student evaluation are…

One method for evaluating an aspect of physician practice behavior, patient referrals, resulting from continuing medical education programs on cancer at the University of Texas Medical Branch is described. Data presented provide strong support for the effectiveness of continuing education in modifying physician practice behavior. (LBH)

A study is reported that hypothesizes that (1) empathic behaviors and other interpersonal skills are usually not new to internal medicine residents, and (2) that the educational issue is primarily one of skill elicitation and reinforcement rather than learning new content and behaviors. (MLW)

Southern Illinois University School of Medicine's personalized teaching system has the following features: students are provided with behavioral objectives prior to instruction; passing levels for tests are set in advance and are independent of class performance; and the program is divided into small units and students are tested frequently. (LBH)

A national survey to determine the extent and characteristics of interpersonal skill (IPS) teaching in medical schools is reported. Eighty percent of IPS programs are less than five years old, are taught by psychiatrists and psychologists, and teach process, information-gathering, and psychological intervention. (LBH)