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Biomedical subjects

W R Ayers

Publications and source records attributed to W R Ayers.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2001

Establishing the validity of test score inferences: performance of 4th-year U.S. medical students on the ECFMG Clinical Skills Assessment.

BACKGROUND: Although the relations among prematriculation, matriculation, and residency assessments have been studied, measures pertaining to clinical skills have rarely been incorporated in any analyses. PURPOSE: The purpose of this article was to investigate the relations between scores obtained on the Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates Clinical Skills Assessment (CSA) prototype and aptitude-ability measures designed to select medical students, to assess medical students while in medical school, and to evaluate physicians in postgraduate training programs. The sample included 122 4th-year medical students. METHODS: Relations among scores were summarized with correlation coefficients. Analysis of variance was used to compare CSA scores by departmental grades. RESULTS: Significant correlations (p < .01) were found between scores from assessments commonly used in medical school (i.e., United States Medical Licensing Exam [USMLE] Steps 1 and 2) and CSA component scores. There were weak associations between CSA measures and both Medical College Admissions Test scores and residency program evaluations. CONCLUSIONS: The relations between CSA scores and various other medically oriented ability measures provide additional evidence that inferences based on CSA scores are appropriate and valid.

Adult↗
PubMed1992

Not so long ago.

Explore the source record for details and available documents.

Attitude to Computers↗
PubMed1990

A field test of the TIME patient simulation model.

The Technological Innovations in Medical Education (TIME) Project has created an interactive videodisc patient-simulation model that provides faculty with a new method for patient-centered teaching in the medical school classroom. The TIME model is designed to be controlled by a professor in the classroom setting, and incorporates voice recognition technology and video dramatization to create a believable patient encounter. Under the auspices of the Lister Hill National Center for Biomedical Communications, National Library of Medicine, where the Project originated in 1983, three medical schools participated in a field test of this "high-tech" model. Six faculty members made ten classroom presentations of two TIME simulations to 306 second-year medical students. The principal finding was that, in a group setting, a large majority of the students at all three schools became individually committed to the care and management of the simulated patient. They acted as if the patient's problems were real and left the session feeling as though they had interacted with an actual person. Therefore, in terms of simulating a real patient, the TIME patient-simulation model was validated, providing the basis for the development of new patient-centered methods to teach and test medical students in the classroom setting. The Project has been at the Georgetown University School of Medicine, where the model is being introduced into the existing curriculum, since 1988. It is currently being used as a part of the final examination for second-year students and in discussion-group settings for fourth-year students in the internal medicine clerkship. A field test is also under way using the TIME model to assess the clinical performance of third-year students.

Clinical Competence↗
PubMed1988

Implementing RECONSIDER, a diagnostic prompting computer system, at the Georgetown University Medical Center.

RECONSIDER, a computer program for diagnostic prompting developed at the University of California, San Francisco, has been implemented at the Georgetown University Medical Center as part of the Integrated Academic Information Management System Model Development grant project supported by the National Library of Medicine. The system is available for student use in the Biomedical Information Resources Center of the Dahlgren Memorial Library. Instruction on use of the computer system is provided by the library and instruction on medical use of the knowledge base is directed by the faculty. The implementation, capabilities, enhancements such as the addition of Current Medical Information and Terminology (5th ed.), and evaluation of the system are reported.

Computer User Training↗
PubMed1981

Impact of high tuition on medical school applicants and enrollees.

As direct federal support of medical education has been reduced, tuition at U.S. medical schools has increased. Concern has been expressed over a decline in the socioeconomic diversity and the academic qualifications of the applicants. Experience gained at Georgetown University School of Medicine, the medical school with the highest tuition in the United States, indicates that the academic and nonacademic characteristics of the entering class have remained stable over a seven-year period despite a fourfold increase in tuition. Virtually all (98 percent) enrolled students currently receive some form of financial aid, mostly in the form of federally insured loans or federal scholarships with a service commitment. Maintenance of socioeconomic diversity depends on the continued availability of federally supported student loans and scholarships.

College Admission Test↗
PubMed1981

Salt sensitivity in experimental animals and man.

Interest has intensified in the possible role of dietary sodium in the etiology of hypertension and its management. A summary is provided of the evidence relating salt intake to hypertension from three sources: epidemiology of hypertension among societies, observations that management of hypertension is easier at lower intakes of NaCl, and observations that relate blood pressure to urinary output of sodium. The doubts raised about such a relationship are also summarized. Part of the confusion surrounding the relationship between sodium intake (or output) and blood pressure between individuals results from the interplay of other determinents: genetics (family history), weight, body mass index and Na/K ratio. These are discussed and research issues are outlined. The public policy implications of the current information and means for lowering of dietary sodium intake are discussed.

Animals↗
PubMed1978

The use of computerized tomography in the diagnosis of pulmonary nodules.

Pulmonary nodules, in particular the solitary pulmonary nodule or coin lesion, have presented diagnostic difficulties to the specialist in chest diseases. The controversy over managing such lesions ultimately involves the question of whether a given nodule is benign or malignant, and the reports of diagnostic experiences vary considerably. The criteria for diagnosing and managing pulmonary nodules prior to the advent of computerized tomography (CT) were based on anatomic descriptions from conventional and specialized X-ray techniques and on pathological consideration of tissues obtained by invasive techniques. The mathematical manipulation of the absorption coefficients of nodular lesions in the lungs, obtained in a non-invasive manner using CT, can provide additional criteria for diagnosing such lesions. In our study 20 nodules (6 malignant, 14 benign) were retrospectively studied with CT, and from the results it appears that there are distinctive patterns for malignant and benign lesions. We have explained our procedure in this paper and presented an illustrative case study.

Adult↗