Kentucky physicians' perspectives and preparedness for computing in medical education and practice.

Purpose: To examine the University of Kentucky College of Medicine's community-based faculty's (CBF) perspective on computing skills that students should acquire for future medical practice, and if the CBF currently use these skills in their daily practice.

Methods: A survey was mailed to 281 of the institution's CBF in the spring of 1997. The survey listed eight basic computing skills derived from our computing curricular objectives for students and asked respondents (a) if they use the skill, and (b) if students should learn the skill.

Faculty development: a field of dreams.

This chapter describes the faculty development efforts of the eight schools that participated in The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's "Preparing Physicians for the Future: Program in Medical Education." The authors define "faculty development" as the "enhancement of educational knowledge and skill of faculty members so that their educational contributions can extend to advancing the educational program rather than just teaching within it." Faculty development programs varied widely among the schools.

The relationship between medical students' academic achievement and patterns of initial postgraduate placement.

Purpose: To explore the relationship between various levels of academic achievement and the spectrum of initial specialty placements for graduates.

Method: The authors studied the initial specialty placements of all 1984-1994 graduates of the University of Kentucky College of Medicine. Statistical analyses were used to determine the nature and strength of the relationships between initial specialty selection and students' achievement indicators and changes in that relationship over time.

Computer requirements for medical school students--implications for admissions.

Computers are increasingly being used in clinical practice settings. Aware of the need to educate students regarding computer applications in medicine, the University of Kentucky College of Medicine is in the midst of developing a computer curriculum. To that end, many courses and clerkships have devised software packages for transmittal of course information and for evaluation of student performance.

The Kentucky medical curriculum. A response to the call for educational reform: a GPEP report card.

The resources of an important educational grant provided by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, as well as designated local college and medical center funds, provided support for the renewal of the undergraduate medical education program at the University of Kentucky College of Medicine. The fully revised medical curriculum, adapted to changing professional and societal needs and completely in place by the 1994-95 academic year, was influenced by the recommendations of the General Professional Education of the Physician (GPEP) Report, issued by the Association of American Medical Colleges in 1984. This paper details each of the student-centered curricular changes in the context of the GPEP recommendation that it particularly addresses.

Developing generalists for Kentucky.

Since 1985, nearly half of the graduates of the University of Kentucky College of Medicine have chosen generalist careers, even though its students received almost no outpatient ambulatory training in primary care before 1990. This study determined the factors influencing the choice of generalist specialties in the absence of ambulatory training experience. A questionnaire was mailed to the 516 graduates of the classes of 1964 through 1989 who had entered a generalist specialty.

Factors influencing medical students' choice of academic medicine as a career.

The purpose of this study was to identify the characteristics of physicians who chose academic medicine as a career. A questionnaire was sent to all graduates of the University of Kentucky College of Medicine who held full-time positions in academic medical centers (n = 143). Ninety graduates (63%) returned usable questionnaires.

Demographic, educational, and psychosocial factors influencing the choices of primary care and academic medical careers.

Purpose: To identify demographic, psychosocial, and educational variables that differentiate physicians who have chosen careers in primary care from those who have chosen academic medicine.

Method: Questionnaires were distributed in the spring of 1992 to 704 physicians (546 in primary care practices and 143 in academic medicine) who had graduated from the University of Kentucky College of Medicine, 1964-1991. Mann-Whitney U tests and analyses of variance were used for statistical comparisons.

Preventive medicine: what do future practitioners really need? Are they getting it in medical school?

The purposes of our study were (1) to determine preventive medicine topics most relevant to clinical practice, and (2) to determine if medical education affects medical students' attitudes regarding preventive medicine. Our method of study was two surveys. The first survey asked practicing physicians to rank the 23 topics identified in the Healthy People 2000 monograph and determine their usefulness in clinical practice.

Changes in the patterns of specialties selected by high and low academic performers before and after 1980.

Background: The goal of this study was to examine whether recently observed changes in the distribution of medical school graduates' choices are linked to level of academic achievement, graduation year, or both.

Method: The authors studied the specialty selections made by two groups of graduates of the University of Kentucky College of Medicine: 319 who were elected to Alpha Omega Alpha and 276 who ranked academically in the bottom 10% of their classes. They also divided the groups into two time frames: 1964-1979 and 1980-1991.

Test performance of a local examination at a nonlocal site for evaluation of surgical clerks.

Surgical clerkships frequently use locally prepared examinations or nationally available test item banks as an alternative to Surgery Shelf Examinations from the National Board of Medical Examiners (SSNBME) for student evaluation. This study examines performance of a well-designed, item-analyzed local examination (available nationally through the Association for Surgical Education) at a nonlocal site. A 100-item test with a stratified sample from a 442-item bank was administered to 72 third-year students in addition to the SSNBME.

A comparison of the teaching effectiveness of the didactic lecture and the problem-oriented small group session: a prospective study.

A prospective study was designed to assess the teaching effectiveness of active learning in problem-oriented small group sessions (POSGS) compared with passive learning in didactic lectures (DL). Third-year medical students participated in a POSGS on breast disease and a standardized DL on thyroid disease (N = 23) or participated in a POSGS on thyroid disease and a DL on breast disease (N = 19). Students were tested with a multiple-choice examination (MCQ) and a highly structured oral examination (OE) administered by faculty members blinded about student group.