Students' perceptions of early patient encounters in a PBL curriculum: a first evaluation of the Maastricht experience.

Introduction: Real patient encounters before the clinical phase of undergraduate medical education are recommended to stimulate integration of theory and practice. Such encounters are not easy to integrate into the three phases of the problem-based learning cycle, i.e.

Chronic patients in undergraduate education: didactic value as perceived by students.

Objectives: Medical education should prepare students for future clinical practice. However, this preparation is inadequate for the most prevalent problem in health care: chronic disease. This applies to the continuous aspect of chronic disease.

High or low intensity aerobic fitness training in fibromyalgia: does it matter?

Objective: To determine the efficacy of training in fibromyalgia (FM), we compared the effects of high intensity fitness training (HIF) and low intensity fitness training (LIF).

Methods: Thirty-seven female patients with FM were randomly allocated to either a HIF group (n = 19) or a LIF group (n = 18). Four patients (1 HIF group, 3 LIF group) refused to participate after randomization but before the start of the intervention.

A randomized clinical trial comparing fitness and biofeedback training versus basic treatment in patients with fibromyalgia.

Objective: To compare the therapeutic effects of physical fitness training or biofeedback training with the results of usual care in patients with fibromyalgia (FM).

Methods: One hundred forty-three female patients with FM (American College of Rheumatology criteria) were randomized into 3 groups: a fitness program (n = 58), biofeedback training (n = 56), or controls (n = 29). Half the patients in the active treatment groups also received an educational program aimed at improving compliance.