The role of race in clinical decision making.

Is race/ethnicity useful in clinical decision making? This article uses a case example to discuss the role of race/ethnicity in clinical decision making, how racial/ethnic categories were developed, potential problems of using racial/ethnic categories, and the difference between risk factors and risk markers. The authors make the argument that using a patient's race/ethnicity in clinical decision making often results in a missed or incorrect diagnosis.

Peer review as an educational strategy to improve academic work: an interdisciplinary collaboration between communication disorders and nursing.

BACKGROUND: The Communication Disorders and Nursing Programs conducted a pilot study to examine the value of peer review as an educational strategy to improve graduate student writing and understanding of course assignments. PARTICIPANTS: Graduate students enrolled in a communication disorders diagnostic process course, a health policy course, or a philosophical foundations course (N=120). METHODS: Students participated as a peer reviewer for their final assignment. The reviewer read the draft assignment and provided comments. Additionally, nursing students read their papers out loud to the peer reviewer. Students submitted their draft assignment to their professor. The nursing drafts were graded. Students revised and submitted the final assignment for a grade. Students completed a questionnaire at the end of the course to provide feedback about the value of peer review. RESULTS: A 65% response rate was obtained. Students (89.9%) felt that the draft was helpful, the partner was helpful (70.9%), and 78.5% incorporated the suggestions of the peer reviewer. Overall, grades improved from the draft version to the final version for each assignment. CONCLUSION: The pilot study showed that peer review was an effective educational strategy to improve student grades and conceptual understanding of the material.

The conceptualization and operationalization of race and ethnicity by health services researchers.

Racial and ethnic variables are routinely used in health services research. However, there is a growing debate within nursing and other disciplines about the usefulness of these variables in research. A qualitative study was undertaken (July 2004 - November 2004) to ascertain how researchers conceptualize and operationalize racial and ethnic data. Data were derived from interviews with 33 participants in academic health centers in differing geographic regions. Content analyses extracted manifest and latent meanings to construct categories depicting respondents' understandings of race and ethnicity in research. Race and ethnicity held several meanings but the subtext was often not clear because these terms were not operationalized. Measuring race and ethnicity quantitatively necessitated uniform classifications thus it was often necessary to impose a single racialized identity. Respondents recognized the problems with racial and ethnic variables but the majority still believed these variables were necessary and useful. Several researchers understood that racial and ethnic variables were used in ways that may stigmatize the populations studied. These respondents collected data on variables other than race and ethnicity to ascertain the causes of health differentials. The policy recommendation calls for a shift in thinking about how to use racial and ethnic variables in research.