DIPSS plus: a refined Dynamic International Prognostic Scoring System for primary myelofibrosis that incorporates prognostic information from karyotype, platelet count, and transfusion status.

Purpose: The Dynamic International Prognostic Scoring System (DIPSS) for primary myelofibrosis (PMF) uses five risk factors to predict survival: age older than 65 years, hemoglobin lower than 10 g/dL, leukocytes higher than 25 × 10(9)/L, circulating blasts ≥ 1%, and constitutional symptoms. The main objective of this study was to refine DIPSS by incorporating prognostic information from karyotype, platelet count, and transfusion status.

Patients And Methods: Mayo Clinic databases for PMF were used to identify patients with available bone marrow histologic and cytogenetic information.

Training and evaluating tobacco-specific standardized patient instructors.

Background And Objectives: A comprehensive training program to develop tobacco-specific standardized patient instructors (SPIs) was implemented and evaluated at Wake Forest University.

Methods: Descriptive statistics were used to assess SPIs' experience with the training program and medical students' perceptions of the SPI-student interaction. Two standardized scales, used to assess student performance on counseling (Tobacco Intervention Risk Factor Interview Scale [TIRFIS]) and cultural competency (Tobacco Beliefs Management Scale-Tobacco Cultural Concerns Scale [TBMS-TCCS]), were tested for internal and interrater reliability and sensitivity to varied student performance.

Development and pilot testing of a disease management program for low literacy patients with heart failure.

Unlabelled: Development and pilot testing of a disease management program for low literacy patients with heart failure.

Background: Randomized trials have shown that disease management programs can reduce hospitalizations and improve symptoms for patients with congestive heart failure. We sought to create and pilot test such a program for patients with low literacy skills.

Reliability of a Smoking Cessation Risk Factor Interview Scale (SCRFIS) for use with standardized patient instructors.

Background: This study evaluated internal consistency and inter-rater reliability of the smoking cessation risk factor interview scale (SCRFIS).

Methods: Encounters from 16 patient instructors and 414 medical students were used for analyses: Cronbach's alpha and item-to-total correlations measured internal consistency; one-way analysis of variance evaluated comparability of scores across multiple raters, t-tests measured gender bias, and regression analyses compared student counseling skills across three curricula.

Results: The total scale was reliable, there was minimal gender bias, and student counseling skills remained relatively constant over time.

Applying theory to the design of cultural competency training for medical students: a case study.

Although literature suggests that providing culturally sensitive care promotes positive health outcomes for patients, undergraduate medical education currently does not provide adequate cultural competency training. At most schools, cultural competency, as a formal, integrated, and longitudinal thread within the overall curriculum, is still in its infancy. In this article, the authors summarize the current practice of cultural competency training within medical education and describe the design, implementation, and evaluation of a theoretically based, year-long cultural competency training course for second-year students at Wake Forest University School of Medicine.

Tobacco intervention training: current efforts and gaps in US medical schools.

Context: Research has documented that US medical schools inadequately teach tobacco intervention skills.

Objective: To examine effective training methods for tobacco intervention in undergraduate medical education.

Data Sources: Using indexing terms related to tobacco intervention and medical education, we searched MEDLINE (1966-June 2002) and the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews (through issue 2, 2002).