The following abstracts have been accepted for presentation at the this meeting in Poster format in the category on Innovations and Technology.  Those selected for Oral Poster Presentations are so designated in the far right column.
 
 
 

A32	CONTEMPORARY THEORIES OF INTELLIGENCE(S) - "MULTIPLE", "EMOTIONAL", AND "PRACTICAL": SHOULD THESE IDEAS RESHAPE SELECTION AND EVALUATION PROCESSES FOR PROFESSIONAL STUDENTS IN THE MEDICAL SCIENCES?  James F. Amend, DVM, PhD*, Department of Veterinary Physiology and Pharmacology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843-4466   U.S.A. Throughout much of the 20th century, 'intelligence' has been broadly perceived as a general cognitive ability ('g'), and has commonly been measured by IQ tests. However, a number of researchers have maintained interest in measurement of 'non-academic' intelligences, and quantification of a 'social intelligence'. In the past two decades, three particular initiatives have sparked debate about 'non-academic' or 'social' intelligences and their use. The first (Gardner, 1983, 1999; www.pz.harvard.edu/) postulates some eight or nine forms of intelligence. Of these 'multiple intelligences' (MI), the interpersonal form approximates 'social intelligence' as noted above. Among the instruments used to measure MI is the Multiple Intelligences Development Assessment Scale (MIDAS; Shearer, 1999). Project SUMIT (Kornhaber, 2000; www.pz.harvard.edu/sumit) applies MI theory in public education. Second among these initiatives is the idea of 'emotional intelligence' (EI, Salovey and Mayer 1990; eqi.org/mayer.htm). Goleman (eiconsortium.org/goleman.htm) has greatly popularized the idea of emotional intelligence in his 1995 book of the same name. The Bar-On Emotional Quotient Inventory (EQ-i, Bar-On, 1997; eqi.mhs.com) is currently used to assess EI. Third in this group of ideas is the concept of 'practical intelligence' (PI, Sternberg, 2000; www.newhorizons.org/trm_sternberg.html). This concept grows out of Sternberg's triarchic theory of intelligence, which includes analytical, creative, and practical forms. One instrument for measuring PI is the Triarchic Abilities Test (Sternberg, 1985; www.newhorizons.org/crfut_sternberg.html).  All three of these initiatives respond to the observation that abilities measured in school or on IQ tests do not necessarily transfer to real-world settings (Berg, 2000). Those who participate in the selection of students for study in the medical sciences, and those who assess their learning are all too aware of the truth and relevance of the above statement. With the advent of intense investigation of the 'non-academic' intelligences, it is perhaps time for medical educators to examine the utility of these new measures as means to better characterize professional suitability and performance. There can be few vehicles better than IAMSE to help create a broadly-based collective consideration of these possibilities. This poster presentation seeks to better acquaint colleagues with these contemporary views of intelligence, and to invite discussion and collaborative study of their implications.  (Supported by the Dept. of Veterinary Physiology and Pharmacology, and by the Wiley Distinguished Professorship in Veterinary Medicine.)
A33	DEVELOPING REVIEW CRITERIA FOR RESEARCH MANUSCRIPTS Georges Bordage*, MD, PhD, and Addeane S. Caelleigh**,  *Department of Medical Education, University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine, Chicago, Illinois  U.S.A., **Editor, Academic Medicine, Association of American Medical Colleges, Washington, DC Academic Medicine and the section on Research in Medical Education (Group on Educational Affairs at the Association of American Medical Colleges) created a task force to formulate a practical and scholarly document containing basic review criteria for research reports.  This presentation reports on the process of creating the review criteria and summarizes the criteria. The nine task force members represented different research backgrounds, traditions, and expertise.  Their approach was two-pronged: describing the review and decision process, and deriving and explaining review criteria.  Through a nominal group process, the members created 288 statements about reviewing research reports.  Then, working in teams, they searched the literature and refined the statements into 78 criteria organized into topics and accompanied by short essays and references to the literature.  A draft was sent to two peer reviewers.  Based on their critiques, the teams revised their sections.  The two reviewers joined the task force, and the whole group produced a final document. The document has four main sections: Review Process and Publication Decision, Review Criteria, Reviewer’s Recommendation, and Reviewers’ Etiquette, each providing  background information and a resource list.  Criteria are short, self-explanatory, and stated positively, for example, “The introduction builds a logical case and context for the problem statement.”  The criteria focus reviewers’ attention on particular weaknesses and are directly useful for writing the review. The document’s audience is reviewers and, by extension, journal editors.  It has excellent potential as a training tool for reviewers and author-researchers and is scheduled to appear in September 2001 in Academic Medicine.	ORAL
A34	DIGITAL WEB RECORDINGS: SAVING TIME AND ACHIEVING STANDARDIZATION FOR FACULTY AND STUDENT TRAINING Donald J Innes*, Allison H Innes, and John M Jackson. University of Virginia School of Medicine, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA  22908  U.S.A. Faculty development is critical to the success of a complex introductory medicine program where multiple small groups (2 faculty; 6 students) meet weekly throughout the year. Faculty are recruited from medicine, pediatric, and surgical departments and include subspecialists and non-physicians.  Students must have confidence that the material and techniques taught are reasonably uniform throughout the small groups.  Course directors requested funding for 1 hour per week of faculty development or 1 hr/wk/faculty x 2 mentors x 30 weeks = 60 hours. Faculty attendance at development sessions has been poor because of attitude and time demands.  To minimize weekly faculty training time and to help standardize the teaching we experimented with a Web facilitated faculty development program. A digital camcorder was used to record short demonstrations of proper physical examination technique for viewing by the preceptors at home or in the office prior to the weekly session. The average sequence of a "progressive download" video is 10.65 minutes or 16.7 MB (4.4-17.8 minutes and 6.8-28 MB). Displayed on the computer screen is an easily viewed image with sound. Macro views are possible. Videos incorporated into the curriculum include Upper Extremity, Shoulder, Vital Signs, Chest, Abdomen, HEENT, Lower Extremity, Cardiac, Ophthalmoscopic, and Neurologic units. Faculty review proper procedure and are reminded of standard exam sequence and key points. This allows all physicians, including specialists, and non-physician preceptors to knowledgeably participate in the student sessions.  The web based demonstrations enhance small-group learner-centered facilitation and can promote active learning when used in small group settings. The digital images engage the students and can be stopped for discussion; replayed for learning and improving technique. The web videos have been enthusiastically received by physicians, non-physicians and students and have been a key element for an affordable faculty development program.
A35	PRIVATE PATIENTS’ ATTITUDE TO CLINICAL TEACHING S.N. Khan, MBBS, FRCS(Ed)*, Shifa College of Medicine, Plot 71, ST.4-A, CH.Willayat Colony, Chaklala Sch.3, Rawalpindi, Punjab, 44000  Pakistan The health provision has been mostly under the domain of public institutions in Pakistan. Therefore the medical institutions till recently were in public sector only. The private sector has developed good setups in recent years. As a result now medical institutions are being set up in these private health care facilities. But as the treatment costs in private sector is quite high only the affluent classes seek private healthcare. On one hand the ability to buy health care and the cultural element of conservatism where HAYA (people do not liked to be asked personal questions or exposed) on the other, plays a major role in daily routine it seemed a valid concept that the private patients will not participate in the clinical teaching of the medical students.  Objective:  To know the attitudes of the private patients towards clinical teaching (in a conservative background).  Methods:  A self-rated questionnaire in Urdu (the most commonly understood language by almost all sections of the society) was administered to predetermined number of patients. Four questions selected on assumption of most relevant to the topic were asked with categorical yes/no answer options. The sample was stratified randomly with 20 patients participating in the pre lunch sessions over a period of 15 days. The sample was not restricted to the literate patients.  Results:  300 patients were requested to participate in the survey. 33 declined due to various reasons.  Of the 267, 95.9% were willing to participate in history taking by the medical student and 75.5% showed willingness to clinical examination. 87.6% had no objection to presence of student while the physician examined the patient and 94.1% did not mind the student going through their medical records.  Conclusion:  The above study strongly challenges the general beliefs regarding the adverse attitude of the private patients to medical teaching.
A36	COMPUTER USE BY MEDICAL STUDENTS IS RELATED TO PERSONALITY TYPE John A. McNulty*, Baltazar Espiritu, Martha Halsey.  Loyola University Stritch School of Medicine, Maywood, IL  60153  U.S.A. We hypothesized that the degree to which individual medical students used computers in the medical curriculum was related to personality type.  To test this, MS1 medical students in two separate years (1998, 2000) were given the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator test to determine personality types.  Computer utilization for individual students in both years was determined from Windows NT entry logs during the first two months of the medical curriculum when they were taking the Structure of the Human Body course, which utilizes web-based, computer-aided instructional materials extensively.  The frequency and length of logins from individual students were grouped by personality types and the data analyzed by analysis of variance and the Student’s t-test.  Significant differences between types occurred mostly in the 1998 class when the total number of logins were greater for “I” vs. “E” types (p<0.05) and for “T” vs. “F” types (p<0.03).  When trends for all types from both years were combined, there were highly significant differences between the “ITP” types who logged in more frequently (p<0.009) than the “EFJ” types.  When total login time was measured the “NTP” types logged in for significantly longer time (p<0.002) compared to the “SFJ” types.   These findings demonstrate that personality type is an important factor to understand when implementing computer-based instruction into the curriculum.	ORAL
A37	MEDICAL STUDENT INNATE EMPATHY DECREASES DURING THE BASIC SCIENCE AND CLINICAL YEARS  Bruce W. Newton*, Mildred Savidge, Laurie Barber, James Clardy, Elton Cleveland, Patricia O’Sullivan , Department of Anatomy, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, Arkansas  72205  U.S.A. Several previous studies have shown that empathy decreases during undergraduate medical education.  These studies have used tools that assessed “role-playing” empathy, and addressed ways to either ameliorate this decline or train students to appear empathetic.  Our longitudinal study probed deeper into this problem by determining: 1) if the medical curriculum affects “innate” empathy using the Balanced Emotional Empathy Scale (BEES) of Mehrabian, and 2) if changes in innate empathy correlated with specialty choice.  The hypotheses were that empathy would decrease during the first three years of medical school and that those students who choose a non-core specialty would have greater decreases in empathy vs. those who choose core specialties. All medical students came from the UAMS graduating class of 2001 (n=119).  Each student voluntarily completed the BEES at the beginning of the M1, M2, M3 and M4 years (‘97-‘00); therefore, the entering M1’s served as their own baseline.  Each student marked gender as well as specialty choice at that point in time.  The gender sensitive BEES contains 30 items with a nine point option (- 4 to + 4), and takes about 10 min. to complete.  Norm is 45 (sd=24); with males 29 (sd=28) and females 60 (sd=21).  Data was evaluated using repeated measures ANOVA using the GLM procedure from SPSS. Data reveal a cubic function which showed a significant decrease in innate empathy from M1 to M4 (M1=45 (sd=25), M2=42 (sd=24), M3=44 (sd=24), M4=37 (sd=27)).  Analysis of data by M1 vs. M4 core (n=79) or M4 non-core (n=37) specialty choice revealed that both groups declined with a strong trend towards significance (M1 vs. M4 core = 46 (sd=24) vs. 40 (sd=27), respectively; M1 vs. M4 non-core = 45 (sd=28) vs. 32 (sd=28), respectively).  Those M4’s choosing non-core specialties had a greater decline in innate empathy vs. those that choose a core specialty.  Secondary data analyses reveal that female (n=29) empathy was always significantly higher than male (n=89) empathy, and that female and male empathy declined in a parallel fashion (female M1 vs. M4= 63 (sd=20) vs. 57 (sd=20), respectively; and male M1 vs. M4 =40 (sd=24) vs. 31 (sd=27), respectively). These data show that decreases in innate empathy occur not only during the basic science years, but also after the first clinical year.  We hypothesize that the increase in empathy seen at the beginning of the M3 year is due to students finishing the basic science material and anticipating the start of their clinical experiences.  However, it is disturbing to note the large drop in empathy after a one-year clinical exposure: as evidenced by the drop in empathy scores at the beginning of the M4 year.  These data support our previous study which looked at all four UAMS classes in 1997 (Acad. Med. 75: 1215, 2000).  This study was supported by the UAMS Teaching Scholars Program which is funded by Arkansas Department of Higher Education.	ORAL
A38	SCHOLARS IN EDUCATION: AN INNOVATIVE APPROACH TO FACULTY DEVELOPMENT  Jack R. Scott, EdD, MPH*, The University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, TX  77555-0664  U.S.A. Purpose:  A faculty development program entitled, Scholars in Education provides basic science and clinical science faculty at UTMB (The University of Texas Medical Branch) with opportunities to assess and improve their abilities in medical education. There have been thirty-five graduates in the three cohorts since the original began in 1995. The Office of Educational Development within the School of Medicine provides instruction and coordinates campus resources in support of the program objectives. Department chairpersons nominate the participants, as enrollment is limited. This eighteen-month program has demonstrated benefit to both its graduates and the academic department in which they teach. Faculty members participate in a multi-disciplinary set of sessions including various teaching modalities and educational research methods to strengthen innovative medical education programs. Adult learning principles are incorporated throughout the sessions in a manner reflective of our medical student curriculum (i.e., interactive and collaborative). In addition, participants develop a teaching portfolio to offer tangible evidence in support of their academic promotion and tenure review. Scholars in Education graduates have gained a variety of skills that assist them in effective organization and delivery of medical education programs within their academic/research department. A number of course graduates have also established themselves as respected academic leaders within our institution (e.g., associate deans, course directors, etc.). The program objectives for participants include educational skills appropriate for: lectures, small group instruction, interactive presentations, educational technology, and curricular assessments. At the conclusion of the program each graduate conducts a formal presentation on their educational research or development project in a campus forum, “Scholars in Education Symposium”. Currently a research study is underway to measure the impacts of the program on its graduates (n = 35), their departments as well as the School of Medicine. Research results from the survey will be provided in the presentation. We intend to measure the extent to which faculty who complete a formal faculty development program in medical education are more productive and confident educators after the experience than before and whether this perception is also held by their departmental supervisor. Survey items include such variables as:  Demographics of respondents (academic rank, teaching experience, etc.)  Feedback on program elements (topics; educational project; mentor; portfolio; and Symposium presentation)  Course logistics (schedule, work load, etc.)  Confidence as a medical educator (self-assessment)  Levels of Use (application after the program)  Conclusion:  A formal program in medical education methods is an effective strategy to enhance educational skills among basic science and clinical science faculty. Furthermore, the course serves as a recognized means for awarding academic promotion through scholarly activity. It is our belief that the Scholars in Education assists our faculty to assess their diverse roles as educators, discover pertinent instructional applications, collaborate among multi-disciplinary colleagues, and ultimately to contribute to the greater mission of our medical education community.	ORAL
A39	HYBRID HISTOLOGY COURSE.  INTEGRATING OLD AND NEW TECHNOLOGIES Gordon L. Todd, Ph.D.*, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE 68198-6395   U.S.A.    The metamorphosis of our traditional histology course to a hybrid of old and new technologies has led to an improvement in student performance in histology and cell biology on the USMLE Part I exams over the past three years.  Three to five  histology faculty had taught a traditional lecture and laboratory course for many years with typical 2x2 slides and overhead transparencies combined with student microscopes and glass slides in laboratory.  With curricular reform at our institution in 1991, the course was broken up and integrated into multidisciplinary cores, but retaining the traditional tools and format.  With rapid advances in computer technology, a transformation occurred over the past four years to incorporate computer technology into the lecture and lab components together with supplemental resources on the campus intranet.  This transformation included the introduction of a high resolution video projectors and lecture podiums with integrated Mac and PC computers, microscope cart with digital camera and computer interface, large screen computer monitors throughout the histology lab and the development of a histology web page on the campus intranet.  Most of the lectures are now largely given as PowerPoint presentations that incorporate histologic images from our digital camera and several commercial  histology CD-ROM programs as well as numerous electron micrographs.   In lab the students still have traditional student microscopes, two boxes of glass slides covering all of the tissues and organ systems, atlas and laboratory guide book.  This is supplemented with overviews and reviews of the glass slides by instructors using the microscope cart and digital camera.  Naturally, this hybrid course incorporates some of the best and worst of both worlds.   In student surveys covering the histology labs, the two highest rated evaluations (1-5 scale) that are direct benefits of the computer technology include overview/review sessions on the monitors with the microscope cart (4.05) and the supplemental images on the histology web page (4.10).  The continued use of microscopes promotes an organizational approach to identifying tissues and organ systems.  Microscope usage prepares students for such tasks as simple urine analysis and other tissue examinations when they start the clinics.  The computerized instruction is efficient and all these resources promote more independent learning by a large segment of the student body.  The downside is the continuing dependence on maintaining the microscopes and glass slide collection.  Because of the costs involved  in expanding these resources, the department is forced to staff two lab sections for each topic.  Now with four years of experience, this integrated approach appears to better prepare the students with their varied backgrounds and learning styles while at the same time reducing the didactic component.  Based on improvement in USMLE scores over the past three years, this approach appears to be working to improve student performance and retention by combining the best of old and new technologies.	ORAL