A program is described that integrates specialty training with clinical interdisciplinary aspects of health care by directly involving pharmacy and other health care professional students in an ongoing team model of health care delivery. It increased knowledge of and positive attitudes toward interdisciplinary teams, sensitivity to patients, and…

A 4-week course teaching interpersonal skills helps optometry students develop self-awareness in handling patients and other practice problems. Among the topics covered are questioning techniques, patient communication types, children, and difficult questions. (Author/MSE)

Students in a living anatomy course were divided into three groups--mixed, all-male, and all-female. Pairs performed most or all examinations on each other. All students felt preclinical examination of opposite sexes was important, but mixed groups scored higher in professionalism, were less bothered by sensitive area examination, and showed more…

A school of dentistry's computer system handles numerous types of online transactions: patient screening, registration, disposition, treatment planning, treatment progress, appointments, records of a patient-practitioner association, student evaluation, and records for student, faculty, and staff. The program could be adapted for other program…

Health counseling focuses on the development of skills and resources for optimal psychophysiological functioning. This emerging specialization, however, lacks the formal recognition required to advance within the developing interdisciplinary field of behavioral medicine. The authors address the problem and promise of professional recognition for…

A second-year clinical course composed of weekly observation sessions of interactions between patients and health care professionals in a variety of health care settings within a hospital is described. Weekly discussion sessions summarize the observations and introduce such topics as communication skills, patients' rights, patient relationships,…

To make medical care more available to high school students through increased contact among the physician and students, a project was developed to increase students' willingness to seek help. Results demonstrated that students are more likely to seek help when they believe the physician cares about and understands them. (JN)

Describes characteristics, employment setting, and professional practices of health service-provider psychologists. Discusses their current status in psychology, the distribution of health care practitioners, patterns of specialization in service delivery, and populations being served by these practitioners. (Author/MJL)

Explores the role of clinical librarians in providing information services to patients, as they accompany health professionals during daily patient care activities, and examines two projects evaluating clinical librarianship. (CWM)

The use of remote broadcasting equipment in the training of interview skills to third-year medical students is described. Equipment consists of a radio transmitter used by the instructor, and a small hearing-aid-like device worn by the interviewer. This technique allows immediate feedback to the student. (MLW)

Alternatives to long-stay patient back-ups include building more beds of all types, changes in placement policies, and continuing hospital care for older adults. Manitoba's policies have resulted in redistributing the health dollar towards the geriatric patient. (JAC)

The chronologic dimension of continuity of physician care (repeat visits to the same provider) is examined. This continuity is measured by the number of repeat visits to trainees under multiple time intervals of trainee exposure; part-time schedule is compared with full-time exposure. (MLW)

A system for evaluating clinical competency of residents was designed to test expert opinions as well as the skills of the practitioner. Four measures of clinical competency were included: data collection completeness; problem identification accuracy; interview skills; and patient and physician assessment. (Author/MH)

The MERL system, a four-component decision-making approach which evaluates media from a communications theory perspective, is useful to the health educator in evaluating media in a systematic and efficient manner. (Author/CMV)

The challenge of geriatric medicine in an era of limited resources is addressed. Focus is on containing the costs of health care in several neglected areas of geriatrics: stroke, long-term care, patient and family counseling, and death. (JMD)