American Medical Student Association Research Articles

Teaching prevention through electives.

The Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME) accreditation standards affirm that the medical school curriculum should include elective courses to supplement the required courses and provide opportunities for students to pursue individual academic interests. The breadth of opportunities in preventive medicine and population health is extensive as students seek rotations at health departments, rural and urban community health centers, community agencies, occupational health sites, schools, and abroad. A growing number of students choose to participate in MD/MPH dual-degree programs. This article describes four prototypes that foster student learning in preventive medicine: population health, international health, American Medical Student Association opportunities, and public health degree programs. These four types of electives enable students to participate in the front lines of preventive services through experiential learning in: community and population health both at home and abroad, continuous quality improvement, organization and behavioral change, interprofessional teamwork, and health care policy. For those with particular interests in population health and preventive medicine, an increasing number of medical schools offer dual MD/MPH programs, either in conjunction with schools of public health or in graduate programs in public health.

An Anatomy Memorial Tribute: Fostering a Humanistic Practice of Medicine

Medical students' first "patients" are the individuals who donate their bodies for laboratory dissection, and these first lessons of medicine serve as a model for the doctor-patient relationship. An Anatomy Memorial Tribute was initiated by students at Mount Sinai School of Medicine to honor these donors. Students and faculty shared music, art, and readings of original poetry and prose. The event facilitated dialogue about attitudes and feelings with regards to death and dying. Controversial issues included anonymity versus identification of donors and the appropriateness of professionals showing emotion in public. The feedback from both students and faculty participants in the event was overwhelmingly positive. Students wrote that the tribute provided a sense of closure for their dissection experience and reinvolved them in shaping their education; faculty indicated that it was appropriate. Memorial tributes are a first step toward fostering the personal growth and emotional preparation required for competent and compassionate patient care. To encourage a humanistic approach to medical education, faculty have the opportunity to participate in such tributes, facilitate sensitive use of language in the anatomy laboratory, and expand the broader medical school curriculum in relation to death and dying. Medical students may expand the concept of memorial tributes and enhance their professional growth in this area by sharing information, ideas, and experiences through national organizations such as the Humanistic Medicine Group of the American Medical Students Association. The capacity of physicians to effectively serve patients facing the end of life is particularly relevant in the setting of palliative medicine.

Report of the American Medical Student Association’s Nutrition Curriculum Project. Essentials of nutrition education in medical schools: a national consensus

Medical students of the American Medical Student Association established the Nutrition Curriculum Project (NCP) with the goals of ensuring that adequate nutrition information be taught to medical students; ensuring that there be a framework for integration of nutrition topics at all levels of medical education; and formulating and disseminating essential information for nutrition assessment and management in clinical practice. As a first step, the NCP assembled a ten-member advisory board to develop a comprehensive list of nutrition topics deemed essential for the adequate training of physicians. The advisory board consisted of medical and nutrition educators, physicians, and clinical specialists representing major U.S. professional nutrition organizations. The NCP's director coordinated the decision-making process through its three iterations. Final accord on 92 topics was achieved with unanimous approval of the board in 1994. These topics, organized in five major categories, are offered as a guide to the reform of nutrition education and as the basis of a satisfactory nutrition curriculum.

Follow-up survey of support services for lesbian, gay, and bisexual medical students.

To replicate and extend a pilot study conducted in 1990 regarding support services for lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) medical students. In 1994 the authors surveyed all 320 members of Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual People in Medicine, a standing committee of the American Medical Student Association. Chi-square analyses were used to compare responses by subgroups. Responses were received from 185 students (58%) at 92 medical schools. Students who had access to school or community support groups were significantly more likely to disclose their sexual orientation and to know faculty with whom to discuss LGB issues. Nonwhite students were significantly less likely to know faculty with whom to discuss gay-related concerns, to disclose their orientation, and to know of support services. No difference between the academic experiences of lesbians and gay men was reported. Additionally, 115 (62%) of the students reported exposure to anti-gay comments, and 28 (15%) indicated they would not choose to enter the medical field if they were in college today. Although the needs of LGB medical students appear to be receiving increased attention (albeit with great variability from school to school), the survey results suggest that more student-faculty liaisons and more support groups are needed, that LGB patient care should be taught more widely, and that all medical students have too little exposure to non-pejorative descriptions of LGB patients.

Medical student initiatives to promote the education of generalist physicians.

Medical student organizations--including the American Medical Student Association (AMSA), the Association of American Medical Colleges's Organization of Student Representatives (AAMC-OSR), and the American Academy of Family Physicians' National Congress of Student Members (AAFP-NCSM)--are responding to the increased need for generalist physicians. Through a variety of initiatives drawing on each organization's unique strengths and capabilities, students are developing curricular and extracurricular initiatives to increase trainees' exposure to and knowledge about generalist medicine. These projects indicate that future physicians are interested in learning about generalist careers and in working with generalist mentors early in their medical training. Students are addressing these needs through community-based experiences, student interest groups, legislative activity, curricular reform, and research in generalist medicine.

Medical students' well-being

Medical EducationVolume 28, Issue 1 p. 1-2 Free Access Medical students' well-being First published: January 1994 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2923.1994.tb02676.xCitations: 3AboutSectionsPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditWechat Very considerable attention is now being given to the medical school as a social environment. There is much wider recognition that the moral basis of medicine cannot be further explored, affirmed or taught if the policy and the administration of the medical school are ethically defective. A main component of education derives not only from the instruction provided but very significantly from the way teachers embody their professional calling (the role model they provide). The corresponding recognition is dawning that the teaching of medical ethics calls for the medical school itself to have moral purposes and ethical day-to-day functioning. The interface between teaching staff and medical students has in fact long been a focus of educational research. Three decades ago investigations at Cornell in New York found sufficient respect and courtesy on the part of teaching staff and the institution to consider that medical students, at that school, were explicitly perceived as colleagues and were responsibly inducted into the medical profession (Merton et al. 1957). In contrast, investigations from Chicago found that, at Kansas, medical students were disparaged and isolated as a body, distanced from their teachers (Becker et al. 1961). Medical schools, it has therefore long been recognized, can differ grossly in their staff-student relations. Since then medicine itself has changed, and so indeed has the medical profession, as well as the curriculum. The paradigm shift to which all specialties are adjusting, and all departments adapting, is the new concept of medicine, calling for the nature of medicine to be not curative alone, but equally concerned with prevention of illness and promotion of health. Difficult as this redefinition of medicine is proving for departments to accommodate, conceptually and in practical application, medical teachers are themselves challenged to reflect in their own professional behaviour and educational style the tenets of physical and emotional health. In a few countries the doctors have been exemplary, first with regard to smoking and more recently with public drinking. A matter which this Issue demonstrates as due for amelioration is the way medical teachers behave to their students, and the standing accorded to students in the medical school. The educational environment, the contributors demonstrate, falls drastically short of being healthy or even safe. The theme chosen by the American Medical Student Association for its 1992 Conference was Medical Training: A Matter of Survival? A court of law has recently found an army unit guilty and responsible for a soldier who died when drunk. Harmful drinking, drug taking and suicidal behaviour in medical students can no longer be regarded as their responsibility alone. Many medical schools do provide student health services and counselling facilities, but vastly more do not. When it comes to prevention, maintenance of healthy lifestyles is so far divorced from institutional responsibility that mere mention of stress limitation is likely to cause embarrassment to both staff and students. Misuse or maltreatment of medical students is not tolerable, neither when condoned by teachers as ‘character building’, nor when veiled by nostalgic masochism as teachers recall their own bygone hardships. Has the time come to formulate a students' charter? Political analogies have been in the news. In medical education we have learned that to reform the curriculum is not enough: the administrative structures have to be modified in accordance. The articles in this Issue document the case for attending to the social organization of the medical school. ‘Man hands on misery to man’(Philip Larkin observed in ‘This Be the Verse’); the process can no longer be unthinkingly accepted in medical schools. References Merton R.K., Reader G.G. & Kendall P. (1957) The Student Physician. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts. CrossrefGoogle Scholar Becker H.S., Geer B., Hughes E. & Strauss A.S. (1961) Boys in White. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Illinois. Google Scholar Citing Literature Volume28, Issue1January 1994Pages 1-2 ReferencesRelatedInformation

Use of Animals in Medical Education

To the Editor. —The report Use of Animals in Medical Education from the AMA Council on Scientific Affairs 1 contained a number of illogical and unscientific statements. A major justification given for the continued use of animals was that they have been used... for centuries. This is an anachronism in a profession that otherwise prides itself on incorporating new ideas and technologies. It is not a surprising one, however, given the medical establishment's unwillingness to accept other reforms. When I entered medical school in 1973, there were not a few professors who openly verbalized their disappointment at the growing numbers of female medical students and who put women's into the same quotation marks as this article now puts animal rights. The Council's report went on to list the many activities perpetrated by animal rights activists against medical schools and further alluded to the American Medical Student Association's objections, as

Book Review Selecting a Residency: Making sense of the match process Produced by the American Medical Student Association. VHS videocassette, approximate running time 32 min. Reston, Va., American Medical Student Association, 1989. $200.

Book Review Selecting a Residency: Making sense of the match process Produced by the American Medical Student Association. VHS videocassette, approximate running time 32 min. Reston, Va., American Medical Student Association, 1989. $200.

The adequacy of physician supply in small rural counties.

Prologue: Roughly one-quarter of Americans live in rural areas. Rural Americans share the same basic needs as do urban dwellers, one of the most fundamental of which is the need for health care. There is growing attention on the rural health scene, including the health status of rural residents, the status of rural hospitals, and the numbers of physicians that choose to practice in rural areas. In this article, David Kindig and Hormoz Movassaghi examine physician supply in small rural counties—those having fewer than 10,000 residents. Over the period 1975–1985, they find, the number of physicians per 100,000 residents grew almost three times faster for the entire United States than for rural areas, despite overall growth in supply. “To consider this [issue],” they state, “we must have some standard or norm of availability that is desired or optimal for these locations. To our knowledge, no such standard exists.” Kindig, who received his medical degree and a doctorate in experimental pathology from the University of Chicago, is professor of preventive medicine and director of programs in health management at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, School of Medicine. His interest in physician supply began when he was president of the American Medical Student Association in the late 1960s, during a time when issues of distribution of physicians across the country first reached the national consciousness. As deputy director of the Bureau of Health Manpower, under the Department of Health, Education and Welfare, from 1974 to 1976, he helped to develop legislation that led to the formation of the Graduate Medical Education National Advisory Committee (GMENAC) and its landmark findings. Movassaghi is currently an assistant professor of finance at the School of Business, Ithaca College, Ithaca, New York. He holds a master of business administration degree and a master's degree in health administration from the University of Wisconsin, Madison, where he was a research assistant at the time this paper was completed.

Between a Rock and a Hard Place: Values, Ethics and the Physician-in-Training

How can ethics be taught to physicians in training? A careful reading of the bioethical literature reveals no single technique. The Standing Committee on Bioethics of the American Medical Student Association has studied this question and, as one possible solution, has produced a videotape designed to illustrate the common ethical problems that confront the physician in training. The film is successful and, because ethical issues tend to break down the hierarchy in medicine, should be of interest to all physicians, from the new graduate to the retiree. Four short vignettes illustrate a number of ethical problems that often confront the practicing physician and the physician in training. Interactions among house staff, attending physicians, patients, nurses, and other hospital personnel are realistically depicted by professional actors in the settings of the wards of the Standford (Calif) University Hospital. The actions deal with the following issues: honesty and deception, paternalism, patient autonomy,

National Health Service Corp: a survey of Alabama's scholarship recipients.

In April 1979, 41 Alabama medical students who had received scholarships from the National Health Service Corps (NHSC) were surveyed. The students were predominantly single urban individuals who received their initial NHSC scholarship in the first or second year of medical school. The majority who planned primary care careers were undecided about remaining in the NHSC after their commitment. The students were concerned about the logistics of the NHSC and practice in rural areas. Based on their response, it is suggested that medical schools, The American Medical Student Association, and the NHSC develop a series of activities designed to facilitate the NHSC scholarship recipients subsequent activities in the NHSC. These suggestions include elective credit for NHSC/AMSA (American Medical Student Association) preceptorships, curriculum offering that facilitate the physician's practice in underserved communities, and activities that facilitate the medical school faculties' understanding of the NHSC.

Smallness Is a State of Mind

The curriculum for the second year of medical school included a mandatory course in the history of medicine. This was taught by a small distinguished-looking professor with white hair, thick glasses, a PhD, and a soft monotone that, coupled with the tedium of the subject matter, virtually guaranteed somnolence. I often wonder if he was really more excited about the subject than he let on, or whether this was one of those exercises to be endured by teacher and student alike. Thinking I had better use for my time, I frequently absented myself, believing that in a class of more than 80 students I wouldn't be missed. (I failed to notice the record taker, so unobtrusive was she.) As fate would have it, I succumbed to a temptation that presented itself in the form of the New Physician , the journal of the Student American Medical Association. It featured a column

Medical Students’ Attitudes Toward Psychiatry and Psychiatrists

We conducted a survey study of medical students attending the 1980 American Medical Student Association (AMSA) Convention to determine what their attitudes were toward psychiatry and psychiatrists. A sample group of 103 participants were given a two part survey, consisting of a verbal interview portion and a written portion, that utilized a 1–5 scale where 1 was positive and 5 negative. Our data showed that a majority of respondents, in both the verbal and written portion of the survey, had a positive attitude toward psychiatry. Though a positive attitude existed toward psychiatrists it was not as strong as toward psychiatry.

Patient preferences and the bedside manner

In 2002 the American Medical Student Association (AMSA) created a fourth-year medical student elective known as the Humanistic Elective in alternative medicine, Activism, and Reflective Transformation (HEART) that provided the opportunity for students to explore humanism in medicine, self-care, complementary and alternative medicine modalities, communication, activism, and community building in a four-week immersion experience. The educational effects of this elective, and whether it has met its stated goals, are unknown.The authors conducted a web-based, cross-sectional survey of the first eight cohorts of HEART graduates in 2010. Survey questions assessed respondents’ demographics and perspectives on the educational impact of the elective. Descriptive statistics were used to characterize the sample and qualitative analyses were guided by grounded theory.Of 168 eligible alumni, 122 (73%) completed the survey. The majority were female (70%), age ≤35 (77%) years, and trained in primary care specialties (66%). Half were attendings in practice. The majority of respondents felt the elective taught professionalism (89%) and communication skills (92%) well or very well. The majority highly agreed that the elective helped them better cope with stress during residency training (80%), taught them self-care skills (75%), and improved their ability to empathize and connect with patients (71%). Qualitative analysis of the personal and professional impact of the elective identified twelve common themes with self-discovery, self-care, and collegial development/community most frequently cited.The majority of HEART graduates endorse learning important skills and benefiting from the experience both personally and professionally. Aspects of the HEART curriculum may help training programs teach professionalism and improve trainee well-being.

A Handbook for Change: Recommendations of the Joint Commission on Medical Education, Student American Medical Association

The Future of Medical Education , by William G. Anlyan et al (Judy Graves, ed.), 192 pp, $8.50, Duke University Press, 1973. By coincidence two studies on medical education arrived in this editorial office almost simultaneously. One came from the Student American Medical Association which had set up a commission to consider problems in medical education, the other from a group of nationally prominent educators and administrators who addressed themselves to the same topic. This latter group had a rather confused provenance, but their level of officialdom is quite irrelevant. The report stands on its own merits as a collection of thoughtful opinions. The two books will certainly be significant in the history of ideas, for they indicate certain articulate viewpoints, vintage 1973. Whether these views have practical significance in changing the status quo is a totally different matter. The students' recommendations have two special merits. They provide an evaluation, a

SAMA vote in the AMA?

Among the 104 resolutions considered by the House of Delegates of the American Medical Association, meeting in Atlantic City, June 20–24, 1971, was the following, introduced by William Y. Rial, M.D., of Pennsylvania:Whereas, the American Medical Association recognizes the importance of improved communication with medical students; andWhereas, the AMA should have the full benefit of such communication to the House of Delegates through the voices of the delegates from the Student American Medical Association; therefore be it Resolved, that the Constitution and Bylaws of the AMA be revised so that full rights and privileges of delegates be granted . . .

Medical Student Externship as an Opportunity to Expand the Base of Medical Education

The medical student has probably been one of the most complex and confusing, yet potentially most important and valuable positions in medical education in recent years. It represents a basic desire by medical students to gain clinical experience in community hospitals and demonstrates the great disparity between the base for medical education and the base for medical service in the United States. In an effort to increase this base of experience and education, the Student American Medical Association has been involved in several separate but related programs, including an international exchange program for clinical students, a model educational program for preclinical students in community hospitals, and discussions with many groups attempting to solve the externship problem. Most of these problems with the are related to the peculiar position of the medical student extern in the delivery of health care, and the ensuing legal implications. Because the term

The Joint Commission's View of Externship Programs

At its Dec 13, 1969, meeting, the Board of Commissioners of the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Hospitals went on record as approving of the standards developed by the Student American Medical Association in its education externship program for junior and senior medical students from foreign medical schools who work in US hospitals. In a policy statement that came out of the December meeting, the Board of Commissioners stated that accredited hospitals participating in this SAMA program, and adhering to these published standards, would not thereby jeopardize their accreditation status. Although the Joint Commission is comfortable with the SAMA program for foreign student externships, it is concerned by the fact that there is no comparable program for students in US medical schools. Since no program does exist, the Joint Commission must depend, for accreditation purposes, on the endorsement of externship programs by deans of medical schools, and in doing so

Medical student externship as an opportunity to expand the base of medical education. The viewpoint of the Student American Medical Association

The medical student externship has probably been one of the most complex and confusing, yet potentially most important and valuable positions in medical education in recent years. It represents a basic desire by medical students to gain clinical experience in community hospitals and demonstrates the great disparity between the base for medical education and the base for medical service in the United States. In an effort to increase this base of experience and education, the Student American Medical Association has been involved in several separate but related programs, including an international exchange externship program for clinical students, a model educational program for preclinical students in community hospitals, and discussions with many groups attempting to solve the "externship problem." Most of these problems with the externship are related to the peculiar position of the medical student extern in the delivery of health care, and the ensuing legal implications. Because the term

Interdependence of medical and allied health education

My first reaction, when asked to speak about the interdependence of medical and allied health education, was that this would be an easy topic. I could simply say that there is precious little. Probably this would be the most provocative approach to the problem. I have given much thought to the existing patterns of education for these two branches of health, and it is obvious that interrelationship could be greatly improved. But the question of how best to achieve this is not so simple. I don't pretend to understand all of the problems, let alone have the solutions. During the past two days, I have been meeting with the Student American Medical Association where the medical students have been addressing themselves to some of these very same problems. This has been a very interesting experience. Let's begin by looking briefly at existing educational processes in the allied health professions. If