ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION: In spite of a projected shortage of physicians in the USA, the relatively long time and duration of training and high expense, the education of U.S. physicians has changed little over the past 120 years. METHODS: To address these issues, Tulane University developed a program, the Tulane accelerated physician training program (TAP-TP). This unique program allows selected Tulane undergraduate students to complete two years of undergraduate studies, followed by a mandatory year of public service, prior to four years of medical school. RESULTS: Students almost exclusively major in Cell and Molecular Biology (CMB), and used credits earned in Medical School to complete the required hours for their Bachelor's degree. The program was judged to be successful based on its ability to attract, retain, and graduate students into medical residency programs. The shortened time frame needed to complete the undergraduate program is associated with significant cost savings for the students. Educational outcomes were not statistically different between TAP-TP and traditional students despite the accelerated curriculum. CONCLUSIONS: TAP-TP is a unique model to graduate physicians in an accelerated fashion at significant cost savings.
Subject(s)
Education, Medical, Undergraduate , Physicians , Curriculum , Fellowships and Scholarships , Humans , Schools, MedicalABSTRACT
We report on the electronic structure and exchange interactions in the dilute magnetic semiconductors Zn(1-x)Cr(x)Se and Zn(1-x)Fe(x)Se. The exchange energies and densities of states were obtained using the layer Korringa-Kohn-Rostoker method and the coherent potential approximation. We find that the dominant exchange in all cases is the super-exchange mechanism, and it is found to be antiferromagnetic for Zn(1-x)Fe(x)Se at all concentrations. For Zn(1-x)Cr(x)Se the exchange interaction changes from ferromagnetic to antiferromagnetic at high concentrations due to the ability of Cr in the antiferromagnetic state to more effectively bond with the host structure. The strength of the super-exchange coupling in the tight binding model is linear in concentration, which we observe for Zn(1-x)Fe(x)Se. However, as in the case of Zn(1-x)Cr(x)Se, when the chemical and magnetic interactions are strongly coupled this simple scaling is no longer observed.
