The social and behavioral sciences play key roles in patient health outcomes. Given this reality, successful development of social and behavioral science curricula in medical education is critically important to the quality of patients' lives and the effectiveness of health care delivery systems. The Institute of Medicine, in a recent report, recommended that medical schools enhance their curricula in these areas and identified four institutions as "exemplars" of social and behavioral science education. The authors describe an ongoing curriculum development and improvement process that produced one such exemplary program at The Ohio State University College of Medicine. The authors provide a historical perspective on behavioral science education, discuss issues that led to curricular change, and describe the principles and processes used to implement reform. Critical factors underlying positive change are addressed: increase active learning, recruit a core group of small-group facilitators who are primary care physicians, diversify teaching methods, support student-directed educational initiatives, enhance student-teacher relationships, centralize course administration, obtain funding, implement a faculty development program, and apply curriculum quality improvement methods. Outcome data from evaluations completed by both students and small-group physician faculty are presented, and future directions regarding further revision are outlined. The authors believe that the strategies they describe can be applied at other institutions and assist behavioral science educators who may experience the challenges typically encountered in this important field of medical education.

The purpose of this study was to compare the product, vendor, and information source saleability judgments of retail store buyers. The sample chosen for the study was retail buyers of women's wear and men's wear from three retailers in the southwestern United States. A mailed questionnaire consisting of saleability judgments was sent to 81 retail buyers resulting in a 77% (n = 63) return rate. Three Principal Component Factor Analyses with Varimax Rotation were used to reduce the number of product, vendor, and information source items to eight factors. Analysis of Variance was used to determine if women's wear buyers and men's wear buyers differed significantly on the eight product, vendor, and information source factors. Women's wear buyers rated reputation, price/promotion, and competition significantly higher than did men's wear buyers, indicating that women's wear and men's wear buyers emphasize different saleability judgments in making purchase decisions. Results will benefit retail management in developing buyer training programs, apparel manufacturers in designing and promoting apparel lines, and educators in designing retail curricula.