Medical student database development: a model for record management in a multi-departmental setting.
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Student records flow through medical school offices at a rapid rate. Much of this data is often tracked on paper, spread across multiple departments. The Medical Student Informatics Group at the University of Utah School of Medicine identified offices and organizations documenting student information. We assessed departmental needs, identified records, and researched database software available within the private sector and academic community. Although a host of database applications exist, few publications discuss database models for storage and retrieval of student records. We developed and deployed an Internet based application to meet current requirements, and allow for future expandability. During a test period, users were polled regarding utility, security, stability, ease of use, data accuracy, and potential project expansion. Feedback demonstrated widespread approval, and considerable interest in additional feature development. This experience suggests that many medical schools would benefit from centralized database management of student records. (+info)
A model for offering an International Medicine Seminar Course for US medical students: the 13-year experience of the New Jersey Medical School.
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An International Medicine Elective Seminar Course at the New Jersey Medical School (NJMS) was designed in 1985 to present a description of medical education, medical care systems, major global health problems, and intervention programs in other countries. Seminars are scheduled for nine weeks in the fall semester. At the end of each course, the medical students complete evaluations. Almost all (97%) students in 1997-1998 evaluated the course as either good (55%) or excellent (45%). Enrollment in the International Medicine Seminar Course increased from 12 medical students in 1985-1986 to 62 students in 1997-1998. An increasing number of students have applied for a fourth-year overseas International Medicine Elective. This and students' evaluations indicated that they have been motivated toward international medicine. The atmosphere of informal seminars and faculty interaction with students has characterized the course. It has made this model of teaching an ideal forum for medical students' professional growth. This course offers students the opportunity and insight to explore facets of their professional role not explicitly covered in the formal medical curriculum. The International Medicine Seminar Course is a self-supported model and can be adopted readily by other medical schools. (+info)
Difficulties with anonymous shortlisting of medical school applications and its effects on candidates with non-European names: prospective cohort study.
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OBJECTIVE: To assess the feasibility of anonymous shortlisting of applications for medical school and its effect on those with non-European names. DESIGN: Prospective cohort study. SETTING: Leeds school of medicine, United Kingdom. SUBJECTS: 2047 applications for 1998 entry from the United Kingdom and the European Union. INTERVENTION: Deletion of all references to name and nationality from the application form. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Scoring by two admissions tutors at shortlisting. RESULTS: Deleting names was cumbersome as some were repeated up to 15 times. Anonymising application forms was ineffective as one admissions tutor was able to identify nearly 50% of candidates classed as being from an ethnic minority group. Although scores were lower for applicants with non-European names, anonymity did not improve scores. Applicants with non-European names who were identified as such by tutors were significantly less likely to drop marks in one particular non-academic area (the career insight component) than their European counterparts. CONCLUSIONS: There was no evidence of benefit to candidates with non-European names of attempting to blind assessment. Anonymising application forms cannot be recommended. (+info)
Comparison of osteopathic and allopathic medical Schools' support for primary care.
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OBJECTIVE: To contrast prevailing behaviors and attitudes relative to prJgiary care education and practice in osteopathic and allopathic medical schools. DESIGN: Descriptive study using confidential telephone interviews conducted in 1993-94. Analyses compared responses of osteopaths and allopaths, controlling for prJgiary care orientation. SETTING: United States academic health centers. PARTICIPANTS: National stratified probability samples of first-year and fourth-year medical students, postgraduate year 2 residents, and clinical faculty in osteopathic and allopathic medical schools, a sample of allopathic deans, and a census of deans of osteopathic schools (n = 457 osteopaths; n = 2,045 allopaths). MEASUREMENTS: Survey items assessed personal characteristics, students' reasons for entering medicine, learners' prJgiary care educational experiences, community support for prJgiary care, and attitudes toward the clinical and academic competence of prJgiary care physicians. MAIN RESULTS: PrJgiary care physicians composed a larger fraction of the faculty in osteopathic schools than in allopathic schools. Members of the osteopathic community were significantly more likely than their allopathic peers to describe themselves as socioemotionally oriented rather than technoscientifically oriented. Osteopathic learners were more likely than allopathic learners to have educational experiences in prJgiary care venues and with prJgiary care faculty, and to receive encouragement from faculty, including specialists, to enter prJgiary care. Attitudes toward the clinical and academic competence of prJgiary care physicians were consistently negative in both communities. Differences between communities were sustained after controlling for prJgiary care orientation. CONCLUSIONS: In comparison with allopathic schools, the cultural practices and educational structures in osteopathic medical schools better support the production of prJgiary care physicians. However, there is a lack of alignment between attitudes and practices in the osteopathic community. (+info)
Power and the teaching of medical ethics.
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This paper argues that ethics education needs to become more reflective about its social and political ethic as it participates in the construction and transmission of medical ethics. It argues for a critical approach to medical ethics and explores the political context in medical schools and some of the peculiar problems in medical ethics education. (+info)
Distribution of research awards from the National Institutes of Health among medical schools.
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BACKGROUND: Previous studies have demonstrated that a small number of the 125 medical schools in the United States receive a disproportionately large share of the research awards granted by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). We assessed whether the distribution of NIH research awards to medical schools changed between 1986 and 1997. METHODS: We used NIH data to rank medical schools in each year from 1986 to 1997 according to the number of awards each school received (as a measure of each school's activity in research, also referred to as research intensity). The proportion of awards received by schools ranked 1 to 10, 11 to 30, 31 to 50, and 51 or lower in research activity was then calculated, and changes over time were examined. We also examined changes in the distribution of awards and changes in award amounts according to the type of department, the type of academic degree held by the principal investigator, and the awarding institute. RESULTS: Between 1986 and 1997, the proportion of research awards granted by the NIH to the 10 most research intensive medical schools increased slightly (from 24.6 percent of all awards to 27.1 percent), whereas the 75 least research intensive medical schools (those ranked 51 or lower) received proportionately fewer awards (declining from 24.3 percent to 21.8 percent). The increased proportion of awards to top-10 schools consisted primarily of increases in awards to clinical departments, awards to physicians, and awards from highly competitive NIH institutes. Basic-science departments received a smaller proportion of awards than clinical departments, both in 1986 and in 1997. CONCLUSIONS: Research funded by the NIH is becoming more concentrated in the medical schools that are most active in research. (+info)
Women physicians in academic medicine: new insights from cohort studies.
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BACKGROUND: I conducted a study to determine whether women who graduate from medical schools are more or less likely than their male counterparts to pursue full-time careers in academic medicine and to advance to the senior ranks of medical school faculties. METHODS: The rates of advancement to the ranks of assistant, associate, and full professor for all U.S. medical school graduates from 1979 through 1993 and for all members of U.S. medical school faculties from 1979 through 1997 were studied. Cohorts were defined on the basis of the year of graduation from medical school, track (tenure or nontenure), and academic department. Within each cohort, the number of women who advanced to a senior rank was compared with the number that would be expected on the basis of parity between men and women, and 95 percent confidence intervals were calculated. RESULTS: Women were significantly more likely than men to pursue an academic career. During the study period, 634 more women became faculty members than expected. The numbers were higher in the older cohorts than in the younger cohorts. The numbers of women who advanced to the ranks of associate and full professor were significantly lower than the expected numbers. This was true for both tenure and nontenure tracks, even after adjustment for the department. A total of 334 fewer women advanced to associate professor than expected, and 44 fewer women advanced to full professor than expected. CONCLUSIONS: Disparities persist in the advancement of men and women on medical school faculties. However, the numbers of women physicians at all levels of academic medicine are increasing. (+info)
The International Health Program: the fifteen-year experience with Yale University's Internal Medicine Residency Program.
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The purpose of this study was to assess the impact of international health electives on physicians-in-training. A retrospective study was conducted using an anonymous, self-administered mailed survey to internal medicine residents who trained at Yale from 1982 to 1996 based on their experience with our International Health Program (IHP). The response rate was 61%, with 96 completed surveys in the participant group and 96 completed surveys in the nonparticipant group. Participants were more likely than nonparticipants to care for patients on public assistance (77 versus 49; P < 0.001) and immigrant patients (41 versus 23; P = 0.006). Among residents who changed their career plans, participants (22) were more likely than nonparticipants (14) to switch from subspecialty medicine to general medicine (P = 0.02). Participants were significantly more likely to have a positive view of health care delivery in developing countries. Compared with nonparticipants (64), IHP participants (74) believed that the physical examination is under-used by physicians from the United States as a diagnostic skill (P = 0.03). International health experiences appeared to have an important impact on the decisions and attitudes of residents. (+info)