Technology-assisted education in graduate medical education: a review of the literature

Studies on computer-aided instruction and web-based learning have left many questions unanswered about the most effective use of technology-assisted education in graduate medical education

Final report of National Health grant 601-21-1

Project was a joint enterprise of the Division of Community Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Memorial University of Newfoundland, the General Hospital, the Grace General Hospital, and St. Clare's Mercy HospitalPreface -- List of tables -- Introduction -- Method -- Results -- Conclusions and implications -- Appendices. Selected bibliography -- Level of care assessment return -- Social interview I -- Follow-up social interview -- Clinical report -- Accounting form -- ReferencesCover title; On cover: Final report of National Health grant 601-21-1Includes bibliographical reference

The History of Geriatric Emergency Medicine

Excellent emergency care does not happen by chance. The standard emergency approach that excels in the young, fails in older patients. Older adults experience unnecessary morbidity and excess mortality in our emergency departments. This article describes the pursuit of excellent emergency care in the historically challenging older adult population. A pivotal point occurred once emergency physicians recognized older patients as a distinct population in need of unique evaluation and treatment. In the early 1990s, a group of geriatricians, philanthropists, and emergency physicians joined forces to improve older patient care. Geriatric Emergency Medicine (GEM) emerged as a subspecialty as these individuals systematically identified its distinctive knowledge, skills, competencies, literature, champions, research, fellowship programs, service lines, staffing, accredited geriatric emergency departments, and now its own journal. Early GEM advocates recognized that a legion of older patients would overwhelm providers lacking the training and resources to deliver adequate care for the aging population. They created education and grant programs, developed leaders, and overcame barriers of ageism, ignorance, and indifference. A review of this progress can inform new strategies and innovations providing a future of excellence in the emergency care of older adults

Response error in self-reported current smoking frequency by black and white established smokers

As compared with white smokers, black smokers, although they report using fewer cigarettes per day, are at higher risk for most smoking-related diseases. Among black smokers serum cotinine levels are also higher in proportion to cigarettes per day; this observation has led to suggestions of bias in self-reporting. The purpose of this study was to evaluate and compare the extent of errors in self-reported smoking patterns among black and white established smokers. Ninety-seven white and 66 black smokers participated in structured telephone interviews, filled out two self-administered questionnaires one week apart, and collected all of their cigarette butts for a week. Group differences in the validity of self-reported smoking patterns were assessed by comparison with cigarette butt counts and the measured butt lengths. Both black and white smokers significantly overestimated smoking on our measure of smoking frequency (both P < 0.001); the group difference in bias was not significant ( P = 0.13). There was no evidence that underreporting was more common among blacks than among whites ( P = 0.67). Test-retest reliability was not significantly different in the two groups ( P = 0.09). Both groups performed poorly when asked to categorize their smoking frequency according to the cutpoints of the Fagerström Test for Nicotine Dependence. Black smokers smoked more of each cigarette and smoked longer cigarettes, but they smoked fewer total millimeters of cigarettes per day (all P < 0.001). Contrary to an earlier report, the disproportionately high cotinine levels could not be attributed to reporting error