Reactions of family medicine community preceptors to teaching medical students.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: In 1993, the University of California, Los Angeles introduced an interdisciplinary course called ¿Doctoring¿ for all first-year medical students in which students visited family physicians' offices once a month for a total of four visits. The study's objectives were to ascertain preceptors' attitudes about having students in their offices and determine if this experience resulted in professional growth. METHODS: A survey was mailed to the 101 preceptors recruited to teach in the ¿Doctoring¿ course. Thirty of the respondents were selected randomly for a follow-up telephone interview. In addition, a second survey was mailed to the 31 preceptors who chose not to participate in the course the following year. RESULTS: More than 75% of the preceptors surveyed reported that the medical students had positive effects on their patients' satisfaction with their care. However, interviews with some respondents revealed worries about balancing time with the student vs maintaining a busy practice. Preceptors reported professional growth in the teaching process and greater knowledge and skills in the specific medical content areas of the ¿Doctoring¿ course. Preceptors who did not participate in the course during the subsequent year reported that their decision was based on issues other than satisfaction with the course. CONCLUSIONS: Based on the results of the study, preceptors experience professional growth through students' direct presence in their offices. Time management while precepting is the greatest challenge reported by preceptors.

Assessment of dose equivalent due to neutrinos.

Neutrinos are present in the natural environment and are also produced by particle accelerators. A recent hypothesis has also been proposed that asserts that ionizing radiation due to neutrinos from certain astronomical events may have led to the extinction of some biological species. Thus, it is of interest to be able to estimate the dose equivalent due to these weakly interacting particles. Presented here are methods for estimating the dose equivalent due to neutrinos over a broad domain of energy, examples of such calculations, and an assessment of the postulated role of neutrinos in biological extinctions. It is concluded that the dose equivalent due to neutrinos from natural sources and from present-day accelerators is inconsequential and the postulated role of neutrinos in biological extinctions is highly improbable.

Autopolymerizing Silastic for interpositional arthroplasty.

A technique describing the application of an autopolymerizing silastic material for the fabrication of a customized interpositional alloplastic implant for TMJ gap arthroplasty has been presented. The implant is easily stabilized, shows no adverse tissue reaction, and remains undisplaced under function. The implant is quickly constructed and accurately adapted to the bony architecture of the temporal bone and condylar segments.