Improving Feedback for Medical Students in a Family Medicine Clerkship: Evaluating medical student performance using frequent feedback.

To evaluate whether feedback to medical students could be improved by asking teachers to complete a student performance rating form during a family practice clerkship, the authors had students and teachers fill out a questionnaire. Teachers in the intervention group reported observing students more frequently. Students' perceptions of feedback frequency correlated strongly with their ratings of feedback quality.

Benzodiazepines: are we overprescribing?

The authors made a survey of benzodiazepine use in the Family Practice Units at Toronto General Hospital and report the findings. They have examined, among other factors, drugs used, reasons for use, and perceived withdrawal symptoms. The results indicated that 24.3% of respondents had taken benzodiazepines in the previous year, and 12.2% in the previous two weeks. There was no difference in the percentage of use of benzodiazepines by males and females. This study confirms that diazepam was the most common drug used in all age ranges. Finally, 6.1% of benzodiazepine users stated that they had attempted an overdose.

A Critical Look at HIV-Antibody Tests: 2. Benefits, Risks and Clinical Use.

Following their first article on HIV-antibody tests,(1) the authors, in this second article, on HIV-antibody testing focus on the benefits and risks that may result from use of the tests. The sequelae of testing, especially if the result is positive, often differ widely, depending on the person tested and on those around him/her. Significant social and psychiatric risks may outweigh any medical benefit of testing, especially for certain persons known to be at high risk of HIV infection. Accordingly, a detailed protocol is suggested for managing both patient requests and physician-perceived indications for HIV-antibody testing. The authors outline the preferred approach to obtaining informed consent, a prerequisite, in their opinion, for ordering the tests.

A Critical Look at HIV-Antibody Tests: 1. How Accurate Are They?

As the AIDS epidemic spreads, many patients are asking their primary-care physicians to perform AIDS (HIV-antibody) testing, and in some settings, clinical circumstances prompt physicians to consider ordering the test. As a result, thousands of HIV-antibody tests are being requested each month by Canadian family doctors, where none were available only two years ago. Yet particular characteristics of HIV infection make these tests very unlike most blood tests, since their use carries clear risks as well as benefits. The authors review these risks and benefits in two sequential articles. In this first paper, they review the quantitative aspects of test accuracy (validity). In a sequential paper, to be published in next month's issue, they will discuss the risks and benefits of performing the test in various clinical circumstances.