Marijuana Use in Pregnancy.

With the legalization of both medical and recreational use of marijuana in some U.S. states, nurses and other clinicians should be prepared to care for pregnant women who have used marijuana during pregnancy.

Hospital-based versus community-based clinical education: comparing performances and course evaluations by students in their second-year pediatrics rotation.

Background: Increasing use of outpatient settings for clinical education raises the question of their effectiveness compared with that of inpatient settings.

Method: At the University of Minnesota Medical School-Minneapolis in 1987-88, the 190 second-year students participated in a six-week tutorial rotation introducing them to clinical pediatrics: 52 (27%) were in hospital settings and 138 (73%) were in community outpatient settings. Almost all the students (178) evaluated their rotations by responding to both structured and open-ended questions, using a Likert scale for the structured questions.

A comparison of knowledge of medical students and practicing primary care physicians about cardiovascular risk assessment and intervention.

Background: Heart attack and stroke are still prevalent causes of death and disability in the U.S. adult population (1, 2).

Senior medical students as simulated patients in an objective structured clinical examination: motivation and benefits.

Third and fourth year medical students were recruited to participate as simulated patients and examiners in an Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) administered for second year medical students. Students reported they were motivated to participate, not only by the honorarium, but because they believed the OSCE would be fun and interesting and because they were interested in medical education and in improving clinical evaluation. The third and fourth year medical students benefitted academically and financially from participation.

Comparing students' feedback about clinical instruction with their performances.

Validation of students' feedback as a measure of teaching effectiveness has been problematic for courses teaching clinical skills. This is true in part because establishing a valid and reliable method of assessing students' mastery of clinical skills has been a stumbling block. Reported here is the correlation of students' performances on an objective structured clinical examination (OSCE) with previously and independently collected feedback from students.

Structured clinical teaching strategy.

This study investigated the impact of a structured exercise on low back pain, as part of a second year ambulatory course, on students' low back pain examination skills. One-hundred and eighty-eight medical students participated in one of four types of instructional intervention: 1) structured clinical exercise and reading, 2) random clinical experience and no reading, 3) reading only, and 4) no clinical experience or reading. At the end of the year, students completed an Objective Structured Clinical Exam (OSCE) in which two stations assessed back pain history and physical exam skills.

Pharyngeal tear resulting from skiing injury.

Severe trauma may occur to the pharynx, larynx, and trachea as a result of blunt external forces. In the course of a downhill skiing accident, an 11-year-old male suffered a pharyngeal tear, with subsequent development of retropharyngeal air. A nonoperative approach resulted in an uneventful recovery from this unusual injury.

Tumor of the back in a break dancer.

Break dancing is a form of recreation that may result in minor and major trauma among participants. A case is presented of an adolescent who developed an unusual swelling on his back after persistent vigorous involvement in break dancing. Resolution of the tumor occurred after several months of avoiding the activity.

Thyroid neoplasm after high-dose radiotherapy.

A female patient is described who developed papillary-follicular carcinoma of the thyroid 8 years after receiving high-dose external radiotherapy to the head and neck. This malignant neoplasm developed while she was taking suppressive doses of thyroid medication. Although it has long been thought that high-dose radiotherapy is not associated with the occurrence of thyroid tumor, it is becoming increasingly apparent that this concept is not necessarily true.

Neurofibromatosis with congenital glaucoma and buphthalmos in a newborn.

A newborn infant with unilateral eyelid swelling, proptosis, and glaucoma is described. The diagnosis of congenital neurofibromatosis was made on the basis of a positive family history and by inspection of the patient. It is suggested that this clinical problem is more common at birth than generally recognized.