Studies designed to assess the efficacy of programs. They may include the evaluation of cost-effectiveness, the extent to which objectives are met, or impact.

The process of formulating, improving, and expanding educational, managerial, or service-oriented work plans (excluding computer program development).

A course of study offered by an educational institution.

Encouraging consumer behaviors most likely to optimize health potentials (physical and psychosocial) through health information, preventive programs, and access to medical care.

Undergraduate education programs for second- , third- , and fourth-year students in health sciences in which the students receive clinical training and experience in teaching hospitals or affiliated health centers.

Programs of training in medicine and medical specialties offered by hospitals for graduates of medicine to meet the requirements established by accrediting authorities.

Method of measuring performance against established standards of best practice.

Education that increases the awareness and favorably influences the attitudes and knowledge relating to the improvement of health on a personal or community basis.

The educational process of instructing.

The period of medical education in a medical school. In the United States it follows the baccalaureate degree and precedes the granting of the M.D.

Activities and programs intended to assure or improve the quality of care in either a defined medical setting or a program. The concept includes the assessment or evaluation of the quality of care; identification of problems or shortcomings in the delivery of care; designing activities to overcome these deficiencies; and follow-up monitoring to ensure effectiveness of corrective steps.

A medical specialty concerned with the diagnosis and treatment of diseases of the internal organ systems of adults.

The capability to perform acceptably those duties directly related to patient care.

Individuals enrolled in a school of medicine or a formal educational program in medicine.

The assessing of academic or educational achievement. It includes all aspects of testing and test construction.

Systematic gathering of data for a particular purpose from various sources, including questionnaires, interviews, observation, existing records, and electronic devices. The process is usually preliminary to statistical analysis of the data.

Small-scale tests of methods and procedures to be used on a larger scale if the pilot study demonstrates that these methods and procedures can work.

Predetermined sets of questions used to collect data - clinical data, social status, occupational group, etc. The term is often applied to a self-completed survey instrument.

Programs and activities sponsored or administered by local, state, or national governments.

Components of a national health care system which administer specific services, e.g., national health insurance.

Health insurance plans intended to reduce unnecessary health care costs through a variety of mechanisms, including: economic incentives for physicians and patients to select less costly forms of care; programs for reviewing the medical necessity of specific services; increased beneficiary cost sharing; controls on inpatient admissions and lengths of stay; the establishment of cost-sharing incentives for outpatient surgery; selective contracting with health care providers; and the intensive management of high-cost health care cases. The programs may be provided in a variety of settings, such as HEALTH MAINTENANCE ORGANIZATIONS and PREFERRED PROVIDER ORGANIZATIONS.

Organized services to administer immunization procedures in the prevention of various diseases. The programs are made available over a wide range of sites: schools, hospitals, public health agencies, voluntary health agencies, etc. They are administered to an equally wide range of population groups or on various administrative levels: community, municipal, state, national, international.

Sequential operating programs and data which instruct the functioning of a digital computer.