Art as Sanctuary: A Four-Year Mixed-Methods Evaluation of a Visual Art Course Addressing Uncertainty Through Reflection.

Purpose: Engagement with visual art is a promising modality for addressing issues of uncertainty via reflective practice, one that is being increasingly used in health science education. An elective museum-based course for first-year medical students was created by two medical schools and led by an art educator experienced in medical education. The course, Observation and Uncertainty in Art and Medicine, sought to help students explore experiences of uncertainty and to develop reflective capacity through engagement with visual art.

A survey study of evidence-based medicine training in US and Canadian medical schools.

Purpose: The authors conducted a survey examining (1) the current state of evidence-based medicine (EBM) curricula in US and Canadian medical schools and corresponding learning objectives, (2) medical educators' and librarians' participation in EBM training, and (3) barriers to EBM training.

Methods: A survey instrument with thirty-four closed and open-ended questions was sent to curricular deans at US and Canadian medical schools. The survey sought information on enrollment and class size; EBM learning objectives, curricular activities, and assessment approaches by year of training; EBM faculty; EBM tools; barriers to implementing EBM curricula and possible ways to overcome them; and innovative approaches to EBM education.

Combining the creative arts and the house call to teach medical students about chronic illness care.

As the number of people living with chronic illness in the United States rises, it is imperative that medical school prepare physicians who are capable of caring for these patients. This article outlines a creative educational intervention to teach third- and fourth-year medical students about caring for chronically ill people. All students at Weill Medical College, Cornell University, make home visits to homebound older adults with an interdisciplinary team as part of a mandatory Primary Care Clerkship.

Fast forward rounds: an effective method for teaching medical students to transition patients safely across care settings.

Adverse events commonly occur during hospital-to-home transitions and cause substantial morbidity. This study evaluated the effectiveness of Fast Forward Rounds (FFR), a novel educational intervention that aims to foster awareness of the essential elements of transitional care in 3rd-year medical students. FFR consists of two 90-minute sessions using lectures, an interactive video, small-group discussion, and a team-based learning exercise.

Introduction to the older patient: a "first exposure" to geriatrics for medical students.

In 2003, Weill Cornell Medical College developed a 4-hour module to introduce the geriatric patient within the required first-year doctoring course. The educational intervention highlights the importance of communication between older patients and physicians, the utility of an enhanced social history and functional assessment, and the pitfalls of ageism in the medical setting. The module incorporates film, the performing arts, and small-group exposure to a community-residing older person.

Reflections of medical students on visiting chronically ill older patients in the home.

The expanding number of Americans living with chronic illness necessitates educating future physicians about chronic illness care. Weill Cornell Medical College's Chronic Illness Care in the Home Setting Program (CIC-HSP), a mandatory part of the primary care clerkship, exposes medical students to persons with chronic illness via a half day of house calls with a geriatrics team. The investigators sought to qualitatively assess the effect of the CIC-HSP on medical students and recent medical graduates.

Creating a teaching geriatric service: ten important lessons.

The restructuring of The Medical Service at the Weill/Cornell campus of the New York Presbyterian Hospital, coupled with funding from the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation to strengthen physicians' training in geriatrics, enabled the creation of a geriatrics inpatient team and a 17-bed Acute Care for Elders unit. It has also allowed a program to be designed that exposes residents to the fundamental principles of geriatric care, offers them opportunities to follow older patients in multiple venues, and provides a chance to enhance their skills and gain experience in interdisciplinary care.