"A life in medicine": stories from a Dartmouth Medical School elective.

The authors describe the content and pedagogy of "A Life in Medicine," an elective for fourth-year students at the Dartmouth Medical School. After briefly describing the rationale behind the course, the authors outline its basic structure and how they teach it (setting, class assignments, etc.).

Performance-based assessment of moral reasoning and ethical judgment among medical students.

Background: An assessment technique was developed to measure the abilities of medical students to deal with moral and ethical issues.

Method: Assessments of ability in moral reasoning and ethical judgement were administered in July and August of 1991 and 1992 to 511 fourth-year students from five northeastern U.S.

Health, Society, and the Physician: problem-based learning of the social sciences and humanities. Eight years of experience.

We describe a required course for fourth-year medical students focusing on the application of the social sciences and the humanities to critical decisions in the practice of medicine. During 160 hours (70 with faculty contact) in a 7-week period, active, patient-centered, problem-based learning takes place in small collaborating groups, is facilitated by trained tutors, and uses computerized access to library materials plus reference files and resource persons. Major issues identified in the cases are clarified in complementary lectures and symposia.