Do we pay our community preceptors? Results from a CERA clerkship directors' survey.

Background And Objectives: Family medicine clerkships depend heavily on community-based family physician preceptors to teach medical students. These preceptors have traditionally been unpaid, but in recent years some clerkships have started to pay preceptors. This study determines trends in the number and geographic region of programs that pay their community preceptors, identifies reasons programs pay or do not pay, and investigates perceived advantages and disadvantages of payment.

Effect of Spanish language immersion rotations on medical student Spanish fluency.

Background And Objectives: The study's objective was to determine whether participation in an international health rotation in a Spanish-speaking country (immersion) is associated with improved Spanish fluency compared to participation in domestic medical Spanish coursework alone.

Methods: Participants matriculated at one US medical school in the years 2004--2008. At matriculation (baseline), all had intermediate to advanced Spanish fluency based on a standardized, oral fluency test.

Creating a multi-institutional family medicine clerkship examination: lessons learned.

Background And Objectives: Multiple choice examinations assess learners' attainment of medical knowledge. Developing multiple choice examinations that discriminate among learners is difficult and time-consuming. Many institutions avoid this effort by using the National Board of Medical Examiners (NBME) subject examinations, which can also provide comparisons to a national norm.

Accuracy of self-assessed Spanish fluency in medical students.

Background: Non-English language fluency is increasingly important in patient care. Fluency self-assessment is easily obtained, but its accuracy is unknown.

Purposes: The purpose is to determine accuracy of medical students' self-assessed Spanish fluency.