Medical Student Teaching and Recruiting: 50 Years of Balancing Two Educational Aims.

Family medicine (FM) undergraduate medical educators have had two distinct missions, to increase the knowledge, skills, and attitudes of all students while also striving to attract students to the field of family medicine. A five decade literature search was conducted gathering FM curricular innovations and the parallel trends in FM medical student interest. Student interest in FM had a rapid first-decade rise to 14%, a second 1990's surge, followed by a drop to the current plateau of 8-9%.

The POLST paradigm and form:Facts and analysis.

This white paper, prepared by a working group of the Catholic Medical Association, provides a commentary on a new type of end-of-life document called a POLST form (Physician Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment) as well as on its model (or "paradigm") for implementation across the United States. After an introductory section reviewing the origin, goals, and standard defenses of the POLST paradigm and form, the paper offers a critical analysis of POLST, including an analysis of the risks that POLST poses to sound clinical and ethical decision-making. The paper ends with several recommendations to help Catholic healthcare professionals and institutions better address the challenges of end-of-life care with alternatives to POLST.

Surgery clerkship evaluations drive improved professionalism.

Purpose: To determine whether a brief student survey can differentiate among third-year clerkship student's professionalism experiences and whether sharing specific feedback with surgery faculty and residents can lead to improvements.

Methods: Medical students completed a survey on professionalism at the conclusion of each third-year clerkship specialty rotation during academic years 2007-2010.

Results: Comparisons of survey items in 2007-2008 revealed significantly lower ratings for the surgery clerkship on both Excellence (F = 10.

Teaching medical students to give bad news: does formal instruction help?

Background: In 1994, the Oregon Health Sciences University instituted an integrated course (Principles of Clinical Medicine; PCM) of classroom and outpatient clinic experience designed to give first- and second-year medical students a head start in clinical skills. During their third year, the students have been periodically evaluated by objective structured clinical examinations (OSCEs). Part of the OSCE assesses the student's skills in giving bad news by means of role playing.

The use and compensation of community preceptors in U.S. medical schools.

Purpose: To better understand how U.S. medical schools are using and compensating community preceptors.

Principles of clinical medicine: Oregon Health Sciences University School of Medicine.

In 1992, the School of Medicine at Oregon Health Sciences University inaugurated a Principles of Clinical Medicine (PCM) course as part of an overall curricular revision. The PCM course, which covers the first and second years of medical school, integrates material from ten separate courses in the previous curriculum. Students learn longitudinally over the two years, rather than "cramming" discrete areas of knowledge and then moving on.

Principles of clinical medicine: an interdisciplinary integrated 2-year longitudinal course.

In keeping with the Report of the Panel on the General Professional Education of the Physician (Association of American Medical Colleges 1984), Oregon Health Sciences University (OHSU) School of Medicine is in the midst of revising its curriculum. After a 4-year process, the Curriculum Committee mandated development of the Principles of Clinical Medicine course, a 2-year longitudinal course integrating input from both basic and clinical science departments. We describe the steps leading to the course's implementation, its administrative and organizational structure, the evaluation of student performance, teacher training, course curriculum, and the use of interdisciplinary teaching.

Use of a group objective structured clinical examination with first-year medical students.

Purpose: To evaluate the implementation of a quarterly group objective structured clinical examination (GOSCE) to assess the patient-evaluation abilities of a medical school class.

Method: The study subjects were 94 first-year students participating in the Principles of Clinical Medicine course at the Oregon Health Sciences University School of Medicine in 1992-93. To create the GOSCE, the authors modified the format of the quarterly objective structured clinical examination by making each standardized-patient station the site of an interaction between a standardized patient and a group of four or five students.

Characteristics and perceptions of nicotine patch users.

Background: Although transdermal nicotine patches are frequently prescribed to aid in smoking cessation, little information exists about their use in general medical practice. In clinical studies, nicotine patches have been found to be effective when used in conjunction with nonpharmacologic interventions, such as physician counseling and follow-up visits. This study examines the characteristics and perceptions of patients regarding treatment with nicotine patches.