Academic medicine : journal of the Association of American Medical Colleges
-
Review
Strategies for improving teaching practices: a comprehensive approach to faculty development.
Medical school faculty members are being asked to assume new academic duties for which they have received no formal training. These include time-efficient ambulatory care teaching, case-based tutorials, and new computer-based instructional programs. In order to succeed at these new teaching tasks, faculty development is essential. ⋯ Research on these strategies suggests that workshops and students' ratings of instruction, coupled with consultation and intensive fellowships, are effective strategies for changing teachers' actions. A comprehensive faculty development program should be built upon (1) professional development (new faculty members should be oriented to the university and to their various faculty roles); (2) instructional development (all faculty members should have access to teaching-improvement workshops, peer coaching, mentoring, and/or consultations); (3) leadership development (academic programs depend upon effective leaders and well-designed curricula; these leaders should develop the skills of scholarship to effectively evaluate and advance medical education); (4) organizational development (empowering faculty members to excel in their roles as educators requires organizational policies and procedures that encourage and reward teaching and continual learning). Comprehensive faculty development, which is more important today than ever before, empowers faculty members to excel as educators and to create vibrant academic communities that value teaching and learning.
-
To examine the benefits of the shift of medical education into ambulatory primary care settings by investigating whether medical students exposed to a common primary care problem (low back pain) in ambulatory care settings develop better clinical skills. ⋯ The lack of difference between the groups' clinical performances indicates a need to more rigorously define and evaluate outcomes of education in ambulatory care settings. The generally poor clinical performance of all groups suggests that the current curriculum inadequately teaches clinical skills needed to assess and manage common problems. Clearer expectations of competencies and assurances that preceptors in ambulatory care settings will help students meet those learning objectives might lead to better outcomes.
-
Comparative Study
Influence of medical school on medical students' opinions about primary care practice.
To compare first- and fourth-year medical students' opinions about primary care practice. ⋯ It appears that students' positive perceptions about primary care practice may change as realistic perceptions about the professional demands on primary care physicians develop during medical school.