Biomedical subjects

Curtis A Olson

Publications and source records attributed to Curtis A Olson.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2004

Setting quality standards for web-based continuing medical education.

Continuing medical education (CME) on the Internet has grown steadily over the past several years. However, the quality of Web-based CME has received limited attention in the medical literature, and there have been few attempts to articulate quality standards. This article describes five sets of standards published in the distance education literature and explores whether the standards might be used to inform and enhance approaches to designing and delivering Web-based CME programs. Standards synthesize practical knowledge, best practices, and research findings. They vary in their perspectives on quality, fall short of being comprehensive, and convey many elements that apply to Web CME. We conclude that published standards in the distance education literature can provide valuable guidance to Web CME providers, and there is a clear need for additional research into questions about what works in Web-based education and why.

Education, Distance↗

PubMed2004

UME-21 and teaching ethics: a step in the right direction.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Ethics education for medical students has included a number of relatively vague descriptions of appropriate curricular objectives, but medical schools struggle with the general teaching of ethics, as well as with presenting the ethical dilemmas posed by managed care. This paper proposes some standards and uses them to analyze the general and managed care ethics content of the Undergraduate Medical Education for the 21st Century (UME-21) curricula. METHODS: We analyzed progress and final reports from each school to define their learning objectives, content, teaching methods, and evaluation strategies in ethics. Each was evaluated using principles of adult learning and Rest's Four Component Model of Moral Development. Good examples of curricular elements from participating schools are described. RESULTS: Ethics curricula varied widely among the schools. Goals and objectives were often stated in generalities. Teaching methods were diverse and innovative, and several new combinations of learning activities were created to highlight ethics topics. Content represented managed care and non-managed care topics in varying proportions. Student surveys of attitudes toward managed care and opinions of the ethics programs were the most commonly used as evaluation tools. Some schools were able to develop more direct means of evaluating student learning. The Four Component Model was not fully addressed in the programs developed by the participating schools. CONCLUSIONS: We make recommendations about the objectives, teaching methods, content, and evaluation methods of an ideal medical school curriculum in ethics.

Adult↗

PubMed2004

A weekend program model for faculty development with primary care physicians.

BACKGROUND: Medical teachers are expected to be proficient at teaching students and residents about the changing health care system. The University of Wisconsin established a faculty development fellowship program to better prepare clinical teachers in family medicine, general pediatrics, and general internal medicine. This paper describes our fellowship program, presents data on program accomplishments, and discusses what we have learned. METHODS: We developed a year-long series of five weekend workshops. A core group of faculty provided 2- to 4- hour sessions on topics including evidence-based medicine, physician leadership, advocacy, doctor-patient communication, quality, technology tools, and teaching skills. Evaluation data were used to shape the program, make improvements, and assess impact. Fellows self-assessed their ability to perform skills at the beginning and ending of the year; paired t tests were used to compare these changes. RESULTS: Attendance and program completion rates were more than 94% for the 84 fellows taught over 6 years. Individual sessions and the overall program were well-rated by fellows. Participants reported improvements in targeted skills; statistical analyses confirmed many significant pre-post improvements. LESSONS LEARNED: To obtain high ratings, faculty must apply adult learning and active learning principles; lectures were not well tolerated. Initial technology skills were often low; computer labs needed many helpers. Participants needed extensive faculty support on their projects. It facilitated coordination and learning to have a core group of fellowship faculty who did most of the teaching. Graduates have become enthusiastic recruiters for new fellows. Our 5-weekend program has proven to be an effective faculty development model.

Adult↗