Journal of general internal medicine
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Comparative Study
What effect does inpatient physician specialty and experience have on clinical outcomes and resource utilization on a general medical service?
To examine the effects of internal medicine specialty and physician experience on inpatient resource use and clinical outcomes on an academic general medicine service. ⋯ General internists had lower lengths of stay and costs compared to endocrinologists and rheumatologists. Hospitalists showed a trend toward reduced LOS compared to all other physicians. Recent inpatient general medicine experience appears to be a determinant of reduced inpatient resource use.
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For aspiring clinical investigators, career development awards provide a primary mechanism for "getting funded." The objective of this article is to provide information that will facilitate a successful application for a research career development award. Specifically, we discuss important issues that cut across the diverse array of awards, and we highlight the most common sources of funding, including the unique opportunities that are available for underrepresented minorities. The target audience includes junior faculty and fellows who are pursuing or considering a research career in academic medicine, as well as their mentors and program directors.
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We describe a half-day workshop to teach third-year medical students three focused end-of-life care skills: breaking bad news, discussing advance directives, and assessing and managing pain. Our workshop included a readers' theater exercise and three role-play exercises. ⋯ Evaluations reflected that most respondents felt that the workshop enhanced their understanding and ability to address these skills with patients. By 6 months, many students reported applying these skills to patient care in a way they thought was effective.
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Multicenter Study
Effect of an Internet-based curriculum on postgraduate education. A multicenter intervention.
We hypothesized that the Internet could be used to disseminate and evaluate a curriculum in ambulatory care, and that internal medicine residency program directors would value features made possible by online dissemination. An Internet-based ambulatory care curriculum was developed and marketed to internal medicine residency program directors. ⋯ Twenty-four programs enrolled with the online curriculum. The curriculum was rated favorably by all programs, test scores on curricular content improved significantly, and program directors rated highly features made possible by an Internet-based curriculum.
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Comparative Study
Teaching and assessing resident competence in practice-based learning and improvement.
We designed, implemented, and evaluated a 4-week practice-based learning and improvement (PBLI) elective. Eleven internal medicine residents from 2 separate residency programs participated in the PBLI elective and 22 other residents comprised a comparison group. ⋯ Also, participants' self-assessed ratings of PBLI skills increased after the rotation and remained elevated 6 months afterward. In this curriculum, residents completed a project to improve patient care and demonstrated their knowledge on an evaluation tool in a way that was superior to nonparticipants.