Mildred Savidge

Measuring Student Motivation in Health Professions' Colleges

Active, independent, self-directed learning requires motivation, or a willingness to exert high levels of effort toward educational goals, conditioned by individual need. Motivation maybe a function of individual differences or induced by situational constraints. Archer (1994), who used goal orientation to conceptualize university student motivation, theorized that students would exhibit a preference for either mastery orientation (desire to develop competence/increase understanding), performance orientation (desire to demonstrate competence/ability), or academic alienation (no concern for developing competence or demonstrating achievement). The purpose of this study was to identify and validate an instrument that would measure goal orientation preferences of students in health professions programs. The authors administered Archers survey to a sample of medical, nursing, and pharmacy students to determine if the instrument was appropriate for this population. Results demonstrated that goal orientation preference could be measured in these students and confirmed the instruments reliability and valid use for these populations.

The impact of a cancer education program on the knowledge base of participating students

BACKGROUND Partners in Research is a ten-week summer elective designed to provide cancer-related educational activities. This study was undertaken to evaluate the impact of the program on the general cancer knowledge of medical students, pharmacy students, and undergraduate biology majors. METHODS The 24 students enrolled in 1999 were evaluated using a pretest and post-test with 75 multiple-choice questions. RESULTS The mean test score increased significantly from 46.6% to 53.0% (p = 0.001). Improvements were significant for general cancer knowledge and three specific disease categories (breast, gastrointestinal, and skin cancers). CONCLUSIONS The results indicate that the program does increase the cancer-related knowledge of students.

Implementing a Mandatory Geriatrics Clerkship

Due to the rapid growth in the proportion of U.S. citizens aged 65 and older (20% by 2030) it is imperative that U.S. medical schools train students who can provide quality care to the older population. Consequently, the objective of this paper is to report the experience of creating a 4‐week, mandatory geriatrics clerkship for junior medical students. Funded by a grant from the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation, the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences developed a mandatory, third‐year clerkship in geriatric medicine.

Testing a multimedia module in cancer pain management

BACKGROUND The technologies for providing better pain management for cancer patients are widely available, but barriers still exist that prevent their optimal use. One of the most important barriers is a knowledge deficit among primary care physicians in adequate pain assessment, in opioid pharmacology, and in the importance of an interdisciplinary approach to the management of pain. METHOD The authors prepared a CD-ROM multimedia cancer pain management module to overcome the physician knowledge barrier. RESULTS Tests of the module with primary care physician and primary care resident volunteers indicate that the cancer pain management multimedia module meets its educational objectives.

Global ratings versus checklist scoring in an OSCE.

No abstract available.