Academic medicine : journal of the Association of American Medical Colleges
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Comparative Study
Evaluating clinical teachers: does the learning environment matter?
Teaching evaluations are an important part of promotion reviews. This study of the effect of learning environment on evaluations found ratings from students in ambulatory settings were higher than were those from inpatient settings.
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Despite being well suited to provide the breadth of care needed in rural areas, few general internists become rural physicians. Little formal rural residency training is available and no formal curricula exist. For over 25 years the University of Washington School of Medicine has provided elective WWAMI (Washington, Wyoming, Alaska, Montana, Idaho) rural residency rotations to expose residents to the rewards and challenges of rural practice. This study identified the characteristics of outstanding rural residency rotations. ⋯ Exceptional rural residency experiences involve excellent role models who provide meaningful responsibility and emphasize core skills using a learner-centered approach. Rural training experiences should be supported, and the suggestions of outstanding preceptors should be used to develop and disseminate a curriculum that will better prepare residents for rural practice.
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Biography Historical Article Classical Article
Medical education and television. 1951.
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Investigator's and institutions' financial conflicts of interest in clinical research raise serious questions about the objectivity of such research, the safety of human subjects, and the threat to public trust in the integrity of clinical research. Yet the author makes clear that a conflict of interest is a state of affairs, not a behavior, and therefore not automatically a manifestation of improper actions. Indeed, conflicts of interest are quite common in complex settings such as those of academic medicine, and usually pose no problem, both because of the safeguards already in place and the integrity of most researchers. ⋯ In addition, safeguards against the downsides of such financial incentives must be visibly strengthened. The author offers eight suggestions for what academic medicine's leaders might do in this regard (comply with existing full-disclosure requirements; establish principles governing institutional conflicts of interest; etc.). He closes by reiterating that the pursuit of clinical research depends entirely on the ability and willingness of the research community to merit public trust.