Adolescent medicine faculty development needs.

OVERVIEW: Adolescent medicine faculty physicians were surveyed regarding training, career, and perceived needs. Most stated that training in teaching, research, and administration would be useful. Time spent in adolescent medicine activities was not associated with satisfaction, whereas having a mentor was. These issues should be considered when addressing faculty development needs.

Effects of structured encounter forms on pediatric house staff knowledge, parent satisfaction, and quality of care. A randomized, controlled trial.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effects of health supervision structured encounter forms on pediatric house staff knowledge, parent satisfaction, and quality of care. DESIGN: Randomized, controlled trial. SETTING: Pediatric house staff continuity clinic in a university-based children's hospital. PARTICIPANTS: 53 pediatric house officers and 153 parents. INTERVENTIONS: House staff were randomized to use structured encounter forms focused on developmental milestones (group 1) or anticipatory guidance/preventive care (group 2) during health supervision visits. OUTCOME MEASURES: Changes in house staff knowledge were assessed with pretests and posttests. Parent satisfaction was assessed with surveys. Quality of care, defined as compliance with recommended guidelines for age-specific health supervision, was assessed by audiotaping visits. RESULTS: Group 1 demonstrated greater but not significantly different improvement in knowledge of developmental milestones than group 2, while group 2 improved more than group 1 in knowledge of anticipatory guidance/ preventive care. Parent satisfaction with developmental screening was significantly greater for group 1 visits than for group 2 visits (P < .001). Group 1 demonstrated significantly greater compliance than group 2 with recommended standards of developmental screening (P = .001). CONCLUSIONS: The use of structured encounter forms for health supervision in pediatric house staff continuity clinics may increase house staff knowledge of developmental milestones and anticipatory guidance/preventive care, increases parent satisfaction with developmental assessment during health supervision, and improves compliance with recommended guidelines for developmental assessment.

Pediatric resident training in a school environment. A prescription for learning.

OBJECTIVE: To describe our experience with developing, implementing, and evaluating the educational effect of a school health experience for pediatric residents. DESIGN: Descriptive. SETTING: University-based pediatric residency program and five public elementary and middle schools in surrounding communities. PARTICIPANTS: Eleven pediatric residents. INTERVENTION: A school health experience for pediatric residents was developed in response to the report of the American Academy of Pediatrics Task Force on Pediatric Education and the new training recommendations of the Residency Review Committee of the American Council for Graduate Medical Education. Residents spent 3 weeks in the schools engaged in teaching and observational activities. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Questionnaires of residents' attitudes and knowledge, structured resident interviews, and teacher questionnaires. RESULTS: Positive effect on resident's knowledge of school structure, child development, communication with children, school-related problems, and special education. Positive effects on resident's attitudes about teamwork between teachers and pediatricians and roles of pediatricians in schools. Teacher feedback showed acceptance by the school community. CONCLUSIONS: Pediatric residents benefit from exposure to children in school settings. Schools provide an opportunity to observe normal childhood development and behavior in a more natural setting than that provided in the hospital.

A case-study approach. Fellows' perceptions of a teaching course.

OBJECTIVE: To determine general and behavioral pediatric fellows' perceptions of a formal teaching course. DESIGN: Qualitative research design using a case-study approach. SETTING: Children's Hospital in Boston, Mass. PARTICIPANTS: All first-year general and behavioral pediatric fellows (n=5) taking the teaching course. INTERVENTION: A 12-week teaching course given to all participants. MEASUREMENTS/MAIN RESULTS: Data were collected using questionnaires completed by fellows; focused, open-ended interviews with fellows; and student ratings of fellows' teaching. Analysis revealed that after the course, the fellows perceived "teaching'' as an interactive, student-directed process; attained a greater awareness of the value of feedback; recognized new teaching opportunities; and changed their teaching strategies to reflect student-directed teaching. CONCLUSION: This formal course influenced fellows' approach to teaching.