T Burford | PubMed Health

PubMed1988

A study of benefits offered volunteer clinical faculty.

The School of Health Related Professions (HRP) at State University of New York at Buffalo offers its volunteer clinical faculty (VCF) a number of benefits and privileges. These VCF are professionals who train students but do not receive monetary compensation for doing so. A study was conducted to determine what benefits/privileges are valued and used most, the impact and use of tuition waivers (TWs), and other benefits the VCF would desire. A survey was sent to 383 VCF, and 233 (61%) responded. The results showed that VCF valued, in order of priority: TWs, University library privileges, faculty parking, photocopying service, clinical faculty awards, use of recreational facilities, and faculty discounts. The data revealed that 42% of the respondents had used TWs, and the study demonstrated that TWs promote the University's graduate programs. The data supported the contention that TWs play a significant role in recruiting and rewarding VCF. As a result, University financial support for TWs was not eliminated. The feasibility and cost of implementing other incentives for VCF participation, suggested by the VCF, will be investigated by the School of HRP in the future.

Allied Health Personnel↗

PubMed1980

A computer-assisted examination resource.

A computer program (MICHELE) has been written to facilitate preparation by medical faculty of reference examination questions based on a 'core curriculum'. Questions may be used by faculty to test student command of coursework and by students at their initiative to assess their progress. Students may also use the program to direct their future studies according to computer-generated suggestions. MICHELE is a medical-instructional, computer-handled evaluation and learning enhancement system which consists of access, executive, author-instruction, student and statistics subsystems. These subsystems guarantee security of the data base, generate examinations according to category, difficulty and format (true--false, multiple choice, case history), generate practice sessions for students and student self-tests, and analyze the individual and cumulative results of examination and self-test sessions. The program is directed primarily toward evaluation of performance and instruction in the clinical disciplines; in this setting it is desirable to develop a sequence of unique, equally weighted examinations throughout the academic year and, at the same time, encourage mastery of core material encompassed in the data base. MICHELE is written in CDC FORTRAN IV and utilizes an indexed sequential file organization for the data.

Computer-Assisted Instruction↗