What is wrong with patient education programs?

The importance of patient education is recognized everywhere. Why, then, are there so many inadequate programs? A study of nursing and medical faculty at a major medical center reveals three key barriers to providing the best possible information.

Data discrepancies and their origins. An evaluation of a family practice residency program using a naturalistic inquiry paradigm.

The results of an evaluation of a family practice residency program are presented. The program evaluation employed a naturalistic inquiry paradigm and a variety of qualitative methods to ensure credibility of results. An important outcome of the data collection and analysis was the identification of significant discrepancies between data collected from interviews with residents and from direct observations of a variety of the educational components of the program.