Twelve tips for using the Understanding by Design curriculum planning framework.

Background: Health professions faculty engaged in curriculum planning or redesign can struggle with developing courses or programs that align desired learner outcomes, such as competencies to be applied in a clinical setting, with assessment and instruction.

Aims: Our medical school implemented the Understanding by Design (UbD) framework to achieve alignment of outcomes, assessments and teaching during the renewal of our four-year curriculum. This article shares our strategies and practices for implementing UbD with teams of faculty curriculum developers.

Evaluating the quality of learning-team processes in medical education: development and validation of a new measure.

Background: Measurement of the quality of team processes in medical education, particularly in classroom-based teaching settings, has been limited by a lack of measurement instruments. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to develop and test an instrument to measure the quality of team interactions.

Method: The authors created 30 items and reduced these to 18 items using factor analysis.

Internists training medical residents in pelvic examination: impact of an educational program.

Background: Pelvic examination is an important component of the primary care of women by internists, but training beyond medical school is rare.

Description: We created an internist-run educational program for 1st-year medical residents in pelvic examination. The program consisted of 4 weekly patient-care sessions with 2 to 3 patients seen by each resident each session.

An evidence-based domestic violence education program for internal medicine residents.

Background: Domestic violence (DV) is prevalent but often unrecognized, and it is a challenge to teach. This article presents an evidence-based DV education program for medical residents and incorporates it into a women's medicine curriculum.

Description: An initial 3-hr seminar included video and case discussion, literature review, and role play.

Histidine decarboxylase deficiency in gene knockout mice elevates male sex steroid production.

Histamine is synthesized in cells by histidine decarboxylase (HDC). HDC-deficient knockout (KO) mice lack functional HDC and histamine in the tissues. In the present study we used this in vivo model for studying the role of HDC deficiency in the regulation of male steroid hormone metabolism.

Detection of retrovirus particles and reverse transcriptase activity in mid-term cultured peripheral blood and lymph node cells from a French woman with Sezary syndrome.

Retrovirus particles, with an ultrastructure of type C-virus similar to HTLV-I were observed in several mid-term cultures of leukemic cells derived from a woman with a well characterised Sezary syndrome who had always resided in France. Reverse transcriptase activity was detected in supernatant fluids from day 6 to day 40 of culture. However, negative anti HTLV-I serology and the absence of specific molecular hybridization between leukemic cell DNA and two HTLV-I derived probes, argue against a HTLV-I virus.

Congenital dyschromia with erythrocyte, platelet, and tryptophan metabolism abnormalities.

The case of a female child with a unique generalized congenital dyschromia is reported. She had hypopimented skin, with hypomelanosis and hypomelanocytosis, and many pigmented macules, which consisted of epidermal and dermal hypermelanosis without hypermelanocytosis. Biochemical investigations revealed normal catecholamine metabolism but abnormal tryptophan metabolism, including a decrease in blood serotonin and melatonin.

Ichthyosis and neutral lipid storage disease (Dorfman-Chanarin syndrome).

Ichthyosis and neutral lipid storage disease (INLSD) is a nonlysosomal, multisystemic, triglyceride storage disorder. It is characterized by nonbullous congenital ichthyosiform erythroderma (NBCIE), leukocyte vacuoles, and variable involvement of the liver, muscles, eyes, and central nervous system. In our patient fat-containing vacuoles were also demonstrated in the epidermis.

Generalized atrophic benign form of junctional epidermolysis bullosa.

There are at least six variants of junctional epidermolysis bullosa (JEB). About 20 cases of the generalized atrophic benign variant of JEB (GABEB) have been previously reported. We present an additional case of GABEB, occurring in a 14-year-old girl.

Captopril-induced lichen planus pemphigoides with pemphigus-like features. A case report.

We report a case of a bullous lichenoid eruption due to the intake of captopril. Clinical, histological, direct immunofluorescence and ultrastructural features were consistent with the diagnosis of lichen planus pemphigoides. In addition, the in vivo immunological study also revealed an intercellular fluorescence, similar to that seen in pemphigus.

Cutaneous manifestations in chronic lymphocytic leukemia.

Cutaneous lesions arising during the course of chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), generally of the B-cell type, are frequent. Three types of cutaneous manifestations must be differentiated: (1) specific lesions, (2) cutaneous manifestations closely related to the disease but without a leukemoid infiltrate and (3) associations with various dermatologic conditions. The various clinical features are discussed.