Managed Health Care

Assessment in undergraduate medical education: a review of course exams

“…This highlights the need to more rigorously evaluate medical students by measuring outcomes that reflect higher order processes such as the application of knowledge (3). Professional oversight bodies such as National Board of Medical Examiners (NBME), American Association of Medical Colleges (AAMC), and the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME) are challenging medical schools to undertake curricular reforms, including assessment procedures that will result in medical students exercising and developing critical thinking skills from the time of matriculation through their life-long practice of medicine (4–6). …”

Assessing declarative and procedural knowledge using multiple-choice questions

“…Reflecting current trends, formal assessments of procedural knowledge are important in honing problem-solving and critical-thinking skills (5), as well as nurturing the development of life-long learning. However, such procedural knowledge should itself be assessed on more than mere short-term knowledge retention – focusing instead on the comprehension and long-term retrieval of scientific knowledge readily applicable to a range of problem-based, real-life clinical situations.…”

A Position Paper of the North American Society for Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition

“…Managed care, for‐profit hospitals, and reduced government funding of research and entitlement programs are limiting the growth of health care. Currently, approximately 50% of the United States population have managed‐care health insurance, a proportion that is expected to grow considerably in the next 5 years(1,2). Managed care reduces utilization of hospitals and specialists and lowers reimbursement for clinical services(3‐5).…”