A weekly, hour-long seminar held for medical residents in a county hospital helped house staff members in making psychiatric diagnoses, understanding how psychiatric difficulties are part of medical problems, learning the use of psychtropic drugs, being able to provide support and continuing of care, and developing communication skills. (LBH)

A study to assess the value of the dean's letter of recommendation as a predictor of internship performance compared information in dean's letters with the evaluation made by clinical staff during internship and found no significant correlation between the two. (JT)

The use of survey results as an aid in making decisions about curriculum development is described. Compared are responses from a group of graduating medical students with the responses from a group of community physicians regarding agreement of opinion concerning primary care practice. (Author/LBH)

A study of the correlation between certification test results and ratings of clinical competence for graduate medical students in internal medicine during a six-year period found strong correlations on both individual and general indicators of competence. (MSE)

An ambulatory medicine program for university hospital clinic residents was found to be effective in improving students' knowledge, enhancing attitudes toward the clinic, and improving performance of influenza vaccinations. No adverse program effects were found. (MSE)

An article was published in the December 1985 issue of this journal that used LISREL to investigate the relationship between family medicine residents' moral reasoning and their clinical performance (Sheehan). The data from that study are reanalyzed to illustrate the importance of considering alternative structural equation models in evaluation…

A study comparing the residency training performances of students who had had academic difficulty and a control group of students with no significant academic difficulties concluded that institutional decisions concerning academically troubled students should be based on individual situations. (MSE)

Unexpected absences from work among residents cause scheduling difficulties and stress among residents. University of Rochester internal medicine and pediatric residents recorded the days they had been absent from work and provided their opinions regarding the stress these absences caused and the effectiveness for the sick-call system. (Author/MLW)

A comprehensive program evaluation designed to encourage active participation by the faculty, residents, and staff members involved in a residency program in primary care pediatrics is described. The evaluation was based on an approach in which continual review of instructional objectives and learning experiences ensured continual monitoring of…

Deans of student affairs at U.S. medical schools were surveyed regarding the composition of "dean's letters" (summary letters sent near the end of students' undergraduate medical training to be part of the students' residency applications). They were asked to describe themselves and the letters they write. (MLW)

There has been an increase in teaching aimed at improving the physician-patient relationship in conjunction with teaching the medical interview. Unconscious, unrecognized responses of a trainee to a patient may explain failure of the trainee to use newly acquired knowledge on interviewing. (Author/MLW)

A study of cancer screening by internal medicine residents in an inner-city clinic revealed that screening was more frequent for male patients, and breast examinations and Pap smears were performed on less than a third of female patients, suggesting a need for more intensive early-detection education of residents. (MSE)

This article describes an interactive computer program that allows medical students to enter a completely free-form problem list at the keyboard and receive immediate analysis of the accuracy and thoroughness of their diagnostic impressions. (Author/LMO)

A survey on the teaching of liberal arts in internal medicine residency programs and the importance of liberal arts to the practice of medicine is discussed. Law and organization of the health care system as well as economics and bioethics were rated as essential to medical practice. (Author/MLW)

The evaluation processes of 75 internal medicine residencies visited by the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) in 1978-82 are reviewed. The methods of evaluation used by the residencies are described and compared with the findings from an earlier cycle of visits in 1972-75. (Author/MLW)