Educating medical students as competent users of health information technologies: the MSOP data.

Unlabelled: As more health information technologies become part of the health care environment, the need for physicians with medical informatics competencies is growing. In 2006, a survey was created to determine the degree to which the Association of American Medical College's Medical School Objectives Project (MSOP) medical informatics competencies had been incorporated into medical school curricula in the United States.

Methods: a web-based tool was used to create the survey; medical education deans or their designees were requested to complete the survey.

A survey of health professions students for knowledge, attitudes, and confidence about tuberculosis, 2005.

Background: In 2003 the NIH perceived a need to strengthen teaching about tuberculosis (TB) to health professions students. The National Tuberculosis Curriculum Consortium (NTCC) was funded to meet this need. The purpose of this study was to survey students enrolled in NTCC schools prior to NTCC-developed educational materials being made available to faculty.

Passive vs. active virtual reality learning: the effects on short- and long-term memory of anatomical structures.

This pilot study compares the differences in learning outcomes when students are presented with either an active (student-centered) or passive (teacher-centered) virtual reality-based anatomy lesson. The "active" lesson used UCSD's Anatomic VisualizeR and enabled students to interact with 3D models and control presentation of learning materials. The "passive" lesson used a digital recording of an anatomical expert's tour of the same VR lesson played back as a QuickTime movie.