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Biomedical subjects

R L Olesinski

Publications and source records attributed to R L Olesinski.

4 recordsLinked to original sources

Comparing the medical school curricula followed by students in an independent study program and a traditional one.

This 1988 retrospective study examined the medical school curricula followed by students from two classes using two curricular styles at one medical school. By consulting school records, the authors ascertained the courses actually taken, the number of weeks that students actually devoted to them, and the sequence of courses, both for those students following an independent-study curriculum and for those following a traditional one. These data were compared with the corresponding data concerning the traditional curriculum requirements to determine whether the curricula the students actually followed, in either style, showed any marked difference from the required curriculum. The findings showed that the curricula followed by the independent-study students deviated considerably from both the requirements of the traditional curriculum and also the actual curricula followed by the students using the traditional curriculum, who almost never chose to deviate from the requirements. The independent-study students showed considerable intragroup variation in the ways they organized their curricula, most commonly in eliminating selected formal clerkship or specialty medicine courses, or altering the duration of clerkships. Elective coursework was substituted for formal clerkship experiences in the majority of cases where clerkship courses were eliminated.

Clinical Clerkship

Medical student training in the performance of diagnostic laboratory procedures.

A study was conducted to determine what diagnostic laboratory procedures medical students recalled being taught during pre-clerkship training, how well they felt they could perform these procedures on entrance to and exit from their clerkship year, and the estimate of frequency of personal performance during the clerkship year. Surveys were mailed to 223 graduating senior students of a medical school. They were asked to supply data regarding 15 pre-selected procedures. In only seven cases did a majority of students recall being taught a procedure. Higher percentages of students who trained at health science centres and a Veterans Administration hospital recalled being taught procedures compared to students who trained at community hospitals. In general, students who performed their pre-clerkship training at the health science centres rated their ability to perform procedures without assistance on entrance to the clerkship year higher than the other two groups. Students who performed at least one half of their clerkships at a health science centre rated their ability to perform procedures without assistance at the termination of their clerkship year higher than those who performed a majority of clerkships at community hospitals. The former group also reported a higher frequency of performance of the procedures than the community hospital group. Most of the procedures for all groups, however, were performed at a rate of less than one/month.

Chicago