Primary care fellowship in diabetes: an innovative program in postgraduate diabetes education.

BACKGROUND: To address the need of caring for the growing number of patients with diabetes, East Carolina University implemented a 1-year fellowship in diabetes. Most of the region has been designated as Health Professional Shortage Areas. DESCRIPTION: The objective of the fellowship is to educate primary care physicians to serve as regional specialists in diabetes. The program is administered by physicians, educators, and representatives of the university's affiliated teaching hospital. The curriculum includes clinical, didactic, and experiential learning strategies in outpatient and inpatient settings. Adult and pediatric endocrinologists, obstetricians, and generalists mentor and evaluate the fellows. EVALUATION: This innovative training program has improved the availability of high-quality diabetes care for underserved patients in the region. Mean glycemic control in fellows' patients improved and other clinical endpoints were also met. CONCLUSIONS: A 1-year diabetes fellowship is a replicable solution to address the need for diabetes care specialists.

Descriptive meta-evaluation. Case study of an interdisciplinary curriculum.

This article describes an example of meta-evaluation in an educational setting. The meta-evaluation examined an evaluation of a community-based, interdisciplinary curriculum. The Program Evaluation Standards (PES), divided into the categories of utility, feasibility, propriety, and accuracy, provided a framework for the meta-evaluation. Utility standards address the information needs of intended users. Feasibility refers to the extent to which an evaluation is realistic, prudent, diplomatic, and frugal. Propriety refers to the properness of an evaluation in terms of meeting legal and ethical obligations. Accuracy pertains to the trustworthiness of evaluation data. Use of the PES as a framework for descriptive meta-evaluation of a single case illustrated the breadth of issues involved in curriculum evaluation and their interrelatedness. Furthermore, the PES helped to reveal strengths and weaknesses that served as starting points for further improvement of the evaluation.