PubMed Health⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

Carol L Elam

Publications and source records attributed to Carol L Elam.

14 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2006

Comparing millennial and generation X medical students at one medical school.

PURPOSE: Two main generational cohorts comprising students enrolled in medical schools today are Generation Xers (born 1965-1980) and Millennial students (born 1981-1999). A subset is Cuspars (born 1975-1980), who share traits with both generations. Population theorists ascribe different personal characteristics, attitudes, and preferences to each group. The authors examined whether selected characteristics describing Generation X and Millennial students were quantifiable using a personality measure. Differences among Generation X, Millennial, and Cuspar medical students were investigated. METHOD: Eight hundred and nine medical students (399 females and 410 males) who matriculated between 1989-94 and 2001-04 at the Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine completed the 16 Personality Factor Questionnaire (16PF). Differences in responses to the 16PF among the three generations were analyzed using multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA). RESULTS: Analyses showed significant differences for Generation X versus Millennial students on 10 of the 16 personality factors. Millennial students scored significantly higher than Generation X students on factors including Rule-Consciousness, Emotional Stability, and Perfectionism; Generation X students scored higher than Millennials on Self-Reliance. Millennials also were significantly different from Generation Xers on several other factors. Significant differences were noted among Cuspars, Generation Xers, and Millennials. CONCLUSIONS: The 16PF is a useful tool to examine differences among these groups and to help understand the factors that constitute their personalities. Given differences among the generational groups, the authors forecast possible educational implications for medical school academic affairs and student services, and suggest areas for future research.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2006

The Kentucky medical curriculum: continuing innovations in educating physicians.

The University of Kentucky College of Medicine (UKCOM) retains a long history of educational commitment, quality, and innovation. Since undergoing a major curricular revision in the early 1990s, the evolving UKCOM curriculum has continued to incorporate advances in biomedical knowledge and pedagogy while meeting changing societal needs and expectations for physicians in practice. Building upon its established record of excellence in medical education, a curricular quality assurance (QA) program has been initiated to more efficiently guide improvement and innovation by providing faculty with key resources to identify and disseminate local best practices in teaching, learning, and evaluation. Through such efforts, the University of Kentucky College of Medicine is committed to providing a rich educational experience that will meet the needs of students, physicians, and patients well into the 21st century.

Area Health Education Centers↗
PubMed2005

Emotional intelligence and clinical skills: preliminary results from a comprehensive clinical performance examination.

BACKGROUND: The recognition of emotional states in one's self and others, emotional intelligence (EI) may play a key role in patient care. This study examines the relationship between EI and students' clinical skills in a required, comprehensive performance examination (CPX). METHOD: Prior to taking a 12-station CPX, third-year students in 2003 and 2004 (n=165) completed the Trait Meta-Mood Scale and Davis' Interpersonal Reactivity Index. Dimensional subscales were computed and correlated with selected aspects of students' clinical skills as recorded by standardized patients in each objective structured clinical examination (OSCE)-type encounter. RESULTS: The internal consistencies (alpha) of subtests ranged from .73-.90. Attention to Feelings, Empathic Concern, and Perspective Taking were significantly (p=<or=.05) positively correlated with communication skills, while the latter two were also significantly negatively associated with physical examination skills. CONCLUSIONS: Various aspects of EI are modestly implicated in students' clinical skills as assessed by standardized patients in an OSCE.

Clinical Competence↗
PubMed2005

How does pre-admission community service compare with community service during medical school?

BACKGROUND: Little research has examined the link between premedical community service and subsequent community service undertaken in medical school. PURPOSE: This study examined the relationship between applicants' community service history with reported community service experiences during medical school. METHODS: Admission files were retrospectively reviewed and community service hours during medical school were totaled for 2003 graduates at the study institution. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, chi-square tests, and logistic regressions. RESULTS: Applicants who were women, had volunteered with multiple types of organizations, and volunteered more than 2 years were all significantly more likely, chi2 p < .05, to have provided greater community service hours during medical school than others. CONCLUSIONS: Aspects of applicants' community service histories, particularly the number of different types of organizations served and length of service, appear related to their subsequent community service involvement in medical school. Admissions committees may wish to provide additional consideration to such applicants.

Adult↗
PubMed2003

A liberal arts education as preparation for medical school: how is it valued? How do graduates perform?

PURPOSE: This study examines the utility of a liberal arts education on medical students' preparation and performance. METHOD: Data included a survey of admission committee members, a preadmission survey of two cohorts of students, and academic performance and extracurricular involvement during medical school. RESULTS: Some admission committee members perceived applicants with liberal arts backgrounds to have certain advantages. These students preferred "discussing issues," and showed an initial preference for the practice of psychiatry. Despite entering with lower total grade-point average and being less involved in extracurricular activities, they were more likely to receive formal commendation and be elected to Alpha Omega Alpha. CONCLUSIONS: Although similarities outweigh differences, students with liberal arts backgrounds may benefit from an educational breadth well-suited for practicing the "art of medicine."

Education, Medical, Undergraduate↗
PubMed2003

Service learning in the medical curriculum: developing and evaluating an elective experience.

BACKGROUND: Medical educators are seeking ways to nurture the service commitments of their medical students while promoting interactions with the communities they serve. Service learning is a pedagogy that links community service with academic experience. DESCRIPTION: The University of Kentucky College of Medicine has developed and implemented an experiential service learning elective. The elective is based in local community agencies where small groups of students perform an asset-needs assessment and design a service project based on their findings. The elective is linked to a behavioral science course that provides accompanying biopsychosocial instruction. EVALUATION: Over the 2-year project period, we used multiple methods (i.e., surveys, interviews, reflection questionnaires, evaluations of student performance, and course evaluations) to gather information on the motivations, observations, and assessments of students, faculty preceptors, and community agency partners. CONCLUSION: Linking a service learning elective to a pre-existing course worked well, achieved its objectives, and will be continued

Community Health Planning↗
PubMed2003

A comparison of applicant and matriculant trends, and rising costs of medical education in United States medical schools and at the University of Kentucky College of Medicine.

This paper addresses fluctuations in the applicant and matriculant pools both across United States medical schools and at the University of Kentucky College of Medicine (UKCOM) for 1992-2002. It also presents data regarding the increasing costs of a medical education. Over the past decade, both nationally and at the UKCOM, there has been an over-all reduction in the number of applicants to medical school. In this changing applicant pool, the percentage of female matriculants has increased both nationally and at the UKCOM. However, the number of underrepresented minorities applying to and matriculating in the US and at the UKCOM has dropped since the mid-1990s. Although the applicant pool has decreased in size over the time period examined, the academic quality of applicants as measured by the undergraduate grade point average and Medical College Admission Test scores has increased both nationally and at UKCOM. Costs of a medical education have risen over time, as has the debt burden of medical school graduates due to increasing undergraduate debt, consumer debt, and medical school tuition. Potential causes for and implication of these changing trends are discussed.

College Admission Test↗
PubMed2002

How we implemented a service-learning elective.

This paper describes the process used to introduce a service-learning course into the medical curriculum at the University of Kentucky College of Medicine. The rationale for taking the initiative to begin such a project is outlined and curriculum planning considerations are reviewed, including how to identify project team members, choose community agency partners, develop the instructional plan, and define roles and responsibilities of the participants. The importance of understanding the philosophy of service learning and taking time for reflection are underscored. Also discussed are program evaluation issues and strategies are suggested for evaluating service learning, obtaining information relevant to the continuation of the project, and disseminating information about the service learning outcomes.

Community-Institutional Relations↗
PubMed2002

Review, deliberation, and voting: a study of selection decisions in a medical school admission committee.

BACKGROUND: Medical school admission committees differ in their decision-making procedures. Some assign ratings to groups of application materials to devise rank order acceptance lists, whereas others deliberate and vote on each separate application. PURPOSE: This study examined what the screening review and deliberative processes contribute to decision making in a medical school admission committee. METHODS: We reviewed records of admission committee members' preliminary votes on applicants after initial screening, final votes after committee deliberation, and written comments regarding issues of concern influencing their votes cast. Descriptive univariate and bivariate analyses are presented. RESULTS: Approximately one in five votes cast after initial screening was changed following committee deliberation, resulting in majority vote shifts in roughly 10% of cases containing votes by the same committee members at both time periods. Factors cited as influencing vote changes (in declining order of frequency) included Medical College Admission Test scores, medical experience, comparison with other applicants, grades, letters of evaluation, interviews, individual attributes, residency status, service experience, expressed desire of committee members to discuss the applicant at the meeting, American Medical College Application Service personal statement, and diversity. CONCLUSIONS: Admission committee members' voting behaviors appear to be influenced by the deliberative process. Future studies should explore the extent to which committee group dynamics influences decision making and the relative contribution of particular academic and nonacademic factors to vote-changing behavior.

College Admission Test↗
PubMed2002

Buzzwords in medical education: what they are, what they mean, and what we are doing about them at the University of Kentucky College of Medicine.

This article defines common buzzwords used to describe innovations in teaching medical students. As background for outlining the innovative educational programs in place at the University of Kentucky College of Medicine, the dual, or bimodal, missions of the College and their historical antecedents are presented. Definitions of important educational outcomes, or standards of achievement expected from University of Kentucky College of Medicine graduates, including professionalism, active learning, evidence-based medicine, and cultural diversity are given. In addition, their relevance to the development of medical professionals is outlined, and examples of where and how these standards are introduced in the Kentucky Medical Curriculum are presented. Similarly, definitions and examples of educational methods or pedagogies used to teach our medical students are discussed including the use of problem-based learning, computer-based instruction, standardized patients, and performance-based assessment.

Education, Medical↗