Neurology: Enzyme Linked to Pathology of Parkinson's Disease Appears Two-faced Hematology: New Device Documents Clot Formation in Living Mice Women's Health: Conference Updates Hormone Replacement Therapy Medical Education: First Medical Education Day Held at HMS   Disease-related Protein Domain Steers Cell Fate High-intensity Exercise Reduces Heart Risk Gene Identified for Severe Nervous System Disorder   HMS and HSPH Faculty Elected to the Institute of Medicine HMS Publications Issues Guide to Men's Health Science Seminars Extend Reach into Community Method for Choosing Statistical Models Shown World AIDS Day Concert to be Presented at Harvard Woodruff Named HSPH Resource Development Dean Zoll Portrait Unveiled HMS/HSDM Faculty Survey Is Coming Conference Explores the University's Digital Identity Honors and Advances News Briefs   Series on Medical Mistakes Targets Preclinical Students   Front Page

MEDICAL EDUCATION First Medical Education Day Held at HMS At HMS's first Medical Education Day, held on Oct. 29, keynote speaker Jordan Cohen, president of the Association of American Medical Colleges, described seven predictable realities of medical practice that should inform student training. One of them was the transformation of medicine from reactive to proactive, which increases the need for physicians to apply scientific findings to patient care. During Medical Education Day's plenary session, Steven Pearson described a new database for documenting residents' clinical experiences. (Photo by Steve Gilbert) Cohen suggested responding by broadening, deepening, and lengthening the role of basic scientists in medical education. "I believe we ought to think about involving basic scientists not just in the first two years," he said. Reorganization of basic science teaching is a recurring theme. A related point was made by Daniel Federman eight months earlier at the Feb. 25 inauguration of the Academy at HMS (which cosponsored Medical Education Day with HMS's Program in Medical Education). In his keynote at the earlier event, Federman, HMS senior dean for alumni relations and clinical teaching, suggested that in the basic science years, multidisciplinary faculty convene and integrate their knowledge so they can share insights with students that are more broadly relevant to medical study. The plenary session on Medical Education Day also featured presentations by four faculty members: Steven Pearson, HMS associate professor of ambulatory care and prevention at Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, who described a database for documenting and evaluating the outpatient clinical experiences of internal medicine residents; Susanne Klingenstein of the Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology, who advocated training in the use of language for physician-scientists; Leonor Fernandez, HMS instructor in medicine at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, who presented cross-cultural videos that she and colleagues had created; and Michael Parker, HMS instructor in medical education, who showed Web-based, interactive lessons he developed to teach difficult concepts. These faculty presenters shook the boundaries of traditional medical education by documenting what is actually happening during training, reexamining long-held assumptions (for example, that medical students all can write well because they are smart--no, they can't, said Klingenstein), and developing video and Web-based media for teaching. The event also included posters, workshops, computer demonstrations, and tours. "Today is a testimony that education is alive and well at Harvard Medical School," said George Thibault, director of the Academy, at the close of the faculty presentations. "We need only feed it, encourage it, promote it, and spotlight it." --Robert Neal