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Biomedical subjects

B J Andrew

Publications and source records attributed to B J Andrew.

7 recordsLinked to original sources

View box exercises for teaching problem solving in radiology.

An organized radiologic problem-solving system is presented for developing improved view box exercises for students and residents. It is based on six components: (1) problem sensing, (2) problem hypothesizing, (3) problem searching and definition, (4) problem identification, (5) resolution, and (6) verification. Since all examinations by the practicing radiologist involve these components, worthwhile simulated clinical management games should also incorporate them. A simulated radiologic exercise should be a valid measurement of the resident's ability to manage a wide range of clinical situations and techniques and should improve problem-solving strategies. Use of simulated clinical cases eliminates risk to patients during the educational process.

Audiovisual Aids

Relationships between clinical competence ratings and examination performance.

Relationships between faculty ratings and performance on components of the National Board of Medical Examiners Certifying Examination for Primary Care Physician's Assistants were investigated. A factor analysis of the clinical competence rating form yielded three discrete factors. Results of tests of simple relationships between each rating factor and examination component indicated that four of the six examination components correlated significantly though modestly with at least one of the rating scale factors. The results of multiple regression analyses indicated complex relationships between each of two examination components and the set of rating factors. One implication is that faculty members are able to make discrete judgments about students on more than one dimension.

Certification

Interviewing and counseling skills. Techniques for their evaluation.

Assessment of knowledge and cognitive skills has been traditionally included in examinations for certification and licensure of health professionals. Evaluation techniques for assessing complex cognitive and interpersonal skills, however, have not been as widely developed or incorporated in national examination programs. Specifically, the evaluation of interviewing and counseling skills has been complicated by difficulties in: (a) defining what consititutes skillful interviewing and counseling and in specifying criteria against which performance can be assessed; (b) developing evaluation procedures to permit accurate and reliable observations of these activities; (c) solving logistic problems of standardizing the content and format of these evaluation procedures; and (d) establishing standards for identifying individuals who have not yet achieved acceptable levels of proficiency. Progress has been made in defining the criteria for evaluating the interviewing and counseling skills of several categories of health professionals. Definitions can be developed to identify specific behaviors associated with acceptable and unacceptable skills in this area of professional competence. On the basis of these definitions, interaction analysis techniques have been developed for accurate and reliable recording of behavior as it occurs in an interviewing and counseling session. Moreover, the use of actors programmed to portray the roles of patients has enabled the standardization of this evaluation procedure so that examinees can be assessed on the basis of equivalent testing conditions. A number of research studies are under way to determine whether paper-and-pencil, as well as audiovisual, simulations can be substituted for evaluation in a live, interactive setting. However, little has yet been done to identify appropriate procedures for establishing standards of proficiency. Perhaps such efforts will be more feasible when appropriate evaluation techniques are more fully developed. Of relevance in determining whether the evaluation of counseling and interviewing skills is pertinent to dietetics are questions such as: How frequently do dietitians interact with patients? In what settings and for what purposes do these interactions take place? What impact do dietitian-patient interactions have on the quality of the health care provided?

Counseling