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Medical School Curricula (medical + school_curriculum)

Distribution by Scientific Domains

Medical Sciences	60%

Selected Abstracts

The Story Catches You and You Fall Down: Tragedy, Ethnography, and "Cultural Competence"

MEDICAL ANTHROPOLOGY QUARTERLY, Issue 2 2003
Janelle S. Taylor
Anne Fadiman 's The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down: A Hmong Child, Her American Doctors, and the Collision of Two Cultures (Noonday Press, 1997) is widely used in "cultural competence" efforts within U.S. medical school curricula. This article addresses the relationship between theory, narrative form, and teaching through a close critical reading of that book that is informed by theories of tragedy and ethnographies of medicine. I argue that The Spirit Catches You is so influential as ethnography because it is so moving as a story; it is so moving as a story because it works so well as tragedy; and it works so well as tragedy precisely because of the static, reified, essentialist understanding of "culture" from which it proceeds. If professional anthropologists wish our own best work to speak to "apparitions of culture" within medicine and other "cultures of no culture," I suggest that we must find compelling new narrative forms in which to convey more complex understandings of "culture." [medical education, cultural competence, tragedy, ethnography, theories of culture] [source]

Refugees and medical student training: results of a programme in primary care

MEDICAL EDUCATION, Issue 7 2006
Kim Griswold
Context, Medical schools have responded to the increasing diversity of the population of the USA by incorporating cultural competency training into their curricula. This paper presents results from pre- and post-programme surveys of medical students who participated in a training programme that included evening clinical sessions for refugee patients and related educational workshops. Methods, A self-assessment survey was administered at the beginning and end of the academic year to measure the cultural awareness of participating medical students. Results, Over the 3 years of the programme, over 133 students participated and 95 (73%) completed pre- and post-programme surveys. Participants rated themselves significantly higher in all 3 domains of the cultural awareness survey after completion of the programme. Conclusions, The opportunity for medical students to work with refugees in the provision of health care presents many opportunities for students, including lessons in communication, and scope to learn about other cultures and practise basic health care skills. An important issue to consider is the power differential between those working in medicine and patients who are refugees. To avoid reinforcing stereotypes, medical programmes and medical school curricula can incorporate efforts to promote reflection on provider attitudes, beliefs and biases. [source]

Basic Emergency Medicine Skills Workshop as the Introduction to the Medical School Clinical Skills Curriculum

ACADEMIC EMERGENCY MEDICINE, Issue 2009
Wallace Carter
Introduction:,Most medical school curricula lack training in basic skills needed in a medical emergency. After the September 11th, 2001 terrorist attacks, junior level medical students at our institution volunteered their time in the emergency department[ or at Ground Zero. They quickly realized they had little or no practical training for an emergency situation. Objectives:,To correct this curriculum deficit, a five hour basic emergency medicine skills / first responder course for students in their first few weeks of medical school was designed. Methods:,The course consists of lectures followed by related skills stations. Lectures include an introduction to the first responder concept, basic airway, breathing, and circulation management, and a rapid, systematic approach to common emergencies. Skills stations teach basic airway management, bag valve mask ventilation, splinting and immobilizing, and moving patients in the field, stressing improvisation. Multiple skills are practiced in a final simulation station using actors with wound moulage and scripted scenarios. Results:,This course, instituted at Weill Cornell Medical School in 2002, has become a mainstay of the first year curriculum. Student evaluations have been uniformly superlative. There is strong student sentiment that this is the most practical course of the first year. Conclusion:,After six years of experience, we have shown it is possible to present a truncated first responder course as part of the first year curriculum. The course generates tremendous interest and awareness regarding emergency medicine. Future research will examine whether skills taught in this course are retained and can be correctly applied later in medical school. [source]

Student attitudes to surgical teaching in provincial hospitals

AUSTRALIAN JOURNAL OF RURAL HEALTH, Issue 3 2003
Martin H. Bruening
ABSTRACT Objective:The ever-increasing pressure on metropolitan teaching hospitals to rationalise budgets and increase productivity has resulted in a dwindling amount of teaching opportunity for the medical student population. One solution to the problem was to utilise a largely untapped resource in South Australia, namely the provincial hospitals, however, student opinion regarding such a radical change had yet to be determined. Design:A questionnaire was circulated among an entire year group of medical students who would be undertaking the revised surgical curriculum with rural attachments. Setting:In October 1997, a decision was made by the Department of Surgery at the University of Adelaide to proceed with optional rural surgical attachments in 1998. Subjects:The survey was distributed to the 125 members of the 1997 fifth year medical student group. Results:A total of 92 questionnaires were returned giving a response rate of 75%. Thirty-nine students ranked a rural term in their top half of preferences, while a further 18 indicated that they would go to a rural centre if they had to. Conclusion:Despite having little warning of the impending changes to their surgical curriculum, the majority of students who responded to the questionnaire stated that they would be willing to venture to the country locations. Before planning significant changes to an established curriculum, the student group should be consulted to gauge their opinion. What is already known:Within the medical literature, studies have been performed with regard to student opinions regarding postgraduate internships in rural locations, but to our knowledge, this survey represents the first study into student opinion with particular reference to rural surgical attachments prior to their commencement within a medical school curriculum. What this study adds:As a result of this study, it can now be concluded that a considerable amount of interest exists within the student population to undertake rural surgical rotations. [source]

Teaching of biochemistry in medical school

BIOCHEMISTRY AND MOLECULAR BIOLOGY EDUCATION, Issue 6 2008
A well-trodden pathway?
Abstract Biochemistry and molecular biology occupy a unique place in the medical school curriculum. They are frequently studied prior to medical school and are fundamental to the teaching of biomedical sciences in undergraduate medical education. These two circumstances, and the trend toward increased integration among the disciplines, have led to reconsideration of biochemistry instruction in many medical schools. We conducted a survey to explore the evolving trends in biochemistry education. A broad diversity was evident in parameters including course content, faculty, governance, prerequisites, and teaching methods. Notably, sharp differences were apparent between freestanding biochemistry courses and those in which biochemistry is integrated with other subjects. Furthermore, the data imply a likely trend toward increased integration of biochemistry with other disciplines in the medical school curriculum. [source]