Introducing expert systems to medical students using esta, Expert System Teaching Aid

Medical students are allocated little curriculum time for exposure to expert systems. ESTA, a computer model of an expert system, was developed to make best use of this time. The nature of the students' interaction with ESTA is described, and their reactions to the expert system concepts and the place of expert systems in medicine are presented. A discussion of these reactions draws some conclusions about teaching expert systems in particular, and computers in general, in the basic medical course.     

Eight years'' experience with a structured clinical examination

A structured clinical examination has been an integral component of the final-year examinations conducted by the Departments of Medicine and Surgery at the University of Adelaide for the last 8 years. It has been used as an alternative to the traditional clinical examination. This paper describes the results of ongoing student and examiner surveys carried out to determine their views and satisfaction with this new approach. It also briefly discusses the feasibility of introducing such an examination into a conventional medical school environment. The surveys showed a remarkable level of acceptance and support by both students and examiners. This positive reaction has been maintained over the 8-year period. The main reasons seem to be its perceived relevance and fairness. Students also appear to be directing their learning in a direction thought desirable by teachers. No significant problems have been encountered with the practical implementation of the method.     

Self-directed learning in anatomy: incorporation of case-based studies into a conventional medical curriculum

This paper reports an attempt to develop self-directed learning skills in second-year medical students by introducing case-based projects into the gross anatomy course at a long-established medical school. The programme and students' responses to a questionnaire completed at the end of the year are presented. Information on the various resources used by students to find information is given. The performance of students in the case-based components of the course has been evaluated and also in the more traditional end-of-year written examination. The data confirm that students have recognized that the projects were about obtaining a deeper understanding of the anatomy, and the programme appears to have promoted the use and study of library texts.     

Psychiatry towards the year 2000

After a brief historical introduction, the future of psychiatry is discussed by considering trends in mental disorder, treatment ideology, research and evolution of society in general with a focus on western Europe and North America.     

Students teaching students: a medical school peer tutorial programme

A peer tutorial programme which is available to all first- and second-year medical students has been in operation at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine since 1972. A retrospective study of the classes of 1982, 1983 and 1984 was undertaken to assess the participation levels in the tutorial programme and to compare the participation level to available performance parameters. The analysis revealed that 54% of the first-year classes and 22% of the second-year classes participated in the peer tutorial programme. X2 analysis of the data demonstrated that the relationship between participation in the tutorial programme and performance on examinations reached statistical significance. The results suggested that an open peer tutorial programme responded to the needs, both cognitive and affective, of medical students.     

Teaching school health to undergraduate medical students

This paper describes a teaching programme for final- (sixth-) year undergraduate medical students during their 10-week term in child health. Students attend schools on two occasions and are actively involved in the physical, educational and emotional assessment of children. The advantages of the programme include active participation by the students, contact with children in a less threatening environment, learning new skills in the assessment of children, and knowledge of common screening procedures. Student evaluation of the programme has been positive.     

Can past academic criteria predict students at risk of future failure?

A significant minority of medical and dental students fail their undergraduate courses. Early warning systems (EWSs) have been developed in some areas of higher education to predict 'at-risk' students at an early remedial stage. An attempt is made to develop an EWS to predict failure in the bacteriology component of the Batchelor of Dental Surgery course at Manchester Dental School. A system based on class tests and previous end-of-year performance is derived which is used to predict those students likely to fail or fall in the bottom 20-25% in their finals examination. The predictors are combined by a simple equal weights method, which is found to have the same predictive power as using multiple regression. Failure was correctly predicted in 60% of cases, at the expense of 71% false alarms. The high number of false alarms reflects the low failure rate rather than the lack of predictive information. The need for effective cross-validation of EWSs is discussed; many previous studies have not been tested on independent data.     

Computers in the Kindergarten

The computer use of two classrooms of kindergarten aged children in private school in Chicago were compared for variance in terms of the age and sex of the children, for variance by classroom, and for variance in the software selected. The major statistical method used was analysis of variance. There were two dependent variables: total frequency of computer use and the difference between the frequency in the first half and that in the second half (in order to examine the changing pattern of computer use in the two classrooms). There was no significant difference in computer use by sex or age, but there was a significant difference in the frequency of computer by classroom in the second half of the project compared to the first half. There was no significant difference in the software selected.     

An Approach to Emergency Department Photography

In the emergency department, photography requires an expedient, portable, adaptable, and relatively simple camera system to take advantage of fleeting opportunities for recording visually educational material. These prerequisites are different from those for traditional medical photography, for which relatively plentiful time and advanced equipment are routinely available. Medical photography departments provide an invaluable service, but are rarely convenient for immediate or spontaneous emergency. department photographs. Although no single system or technique is optimal in all these areas, the authors find certain components and approaches work well. They review photographic equipment, paying attention to speed, ease of use, and quality of output. They also review simple techniques such as film choice, lighting, close-up photography, standardization, copy work, and radiographs. Attention to these details can help the inexperienced photographer obtain a system and begin to enjoy the rewards of effective photography in the emergency department.