This document reports on a study of influences on the choice of family practice as a medical speciality in a setting in which primary care is not stressed. The study surveyed 392 alumni of the University of Michigan Medical School who graduated between 1950 and 1984 and were members of the American Academy of Family Physicians and/or were…

A reference manual on teaching methods for medical school residents and clinician-teachers is presented. Five principles of learning for adult learners that apply to medical students, residents, and medical practitioners are identified. Attention is directed to teaching methods for lectures, grand rounds, seminars and journal clubs, teaching…

The findings of studies on the status of medical education in the South and the deliberations of a regional conference "Alternatives in Medical Education in the South" held in Atlanta, December 15-16, 1980 are summarized in this publication. The following issues are addressed: (1) the national picture of the future supply of physicians;…

To test the effect of clinically relevant multiple-choice item content on the validity of statistical discriminations of physicians' clinical competence, data were collected from a field test of the Emergency Medicine Examination, test items for the certification of specialists in emergency medicine. Two 91-item multiple-choice subscales were…

The summary report of an educational research program conducted with the obstetrics and gynecology residents at University Hospitals of Cleveland in 1976 is presented. The goals were to provide residents with basic knowledge about female sexual problems, assess skill and comfort in interviewing patients with sexual problems, document the effects…

Since practicing New Jersey family physicians still consider house calls important in the delivery of quality primary care, the Department of Family Medicine of the College of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey-Rutgers Medical School is assisting in revising program curricula to provide house call training. (Author/LBH)

Orders written by medical residents to be carried out on newly-hospitalized patients were reviewed to determine the frequency of vital signs orders. Subsequent clinical events requiring nurses to contact house officers were determined. Data suggest that physicians should request nurses to use more efficient methods of clinical observation.…

Data concerning time with patients and time with attending physicians tended to be inversely associated with patient volume in a time-study of family practice residents. The results are used to illustrate and develop some issues involved in the design of residency experiences for primary care physicians. (Editor/LBH)

The regression model can be used to rank resident candidates prior to interview by systematically assigning weights to the information in the transcript and then summing the weights. Much of the judgment of a residency selection committee can be incorporated in a regression model. (MLW)

An application of confirmatory factor analysis, using the LISREL program, to retrospective analysis of rating data common in health professions education was illustrated. A causal model was specified and tested. Although most measures clustered around latent traits, there was more method variance in the data set than trait variance. (Author/JAZ)

Examines the way bureaucratic practices and background or schematized knowledge can influence physician-patient and physician-physician interaction and language in medical diagnostic reasoning. Provides a case study that illustrates the bureaucratic processes presupposed in the production and reproduction of knowledge in practical scientific…

A format was devised for nursing home rounds that provides for discussion among staff members and specialists and is aimed at teaching and the resolution of specific patient-care and administrative issues. Many complex medical problems were handled without transferring the patients to an acute-care facility. (Author/MLW)

A study that demonstrated that a group of medical residents could independently run microcomputer-based patient simulations and subsequently achieve significant increases in test scores is discussed. This outcome supports the use of computer-assisted instruction to provide a core of self-taught material for a clinical subspecialty rotation.…

The goals, formats, and outcomes of journal clubs in a sample of internal medicine residency programs in New York City were surveyed. The results of the survey and a description of the club in the Department of Medicine at Montefiore Medical Center are presented. (Author/MLW)

A survey of the availability of mental health resources for medical students and residents in academic medical centers found that most centers offer assistance to medical students but not to house officers. The structures and limitations of the programs for residents are described. (Author/MLW)