Monthly Archives: December 2013

How Good Are Our Standardized Patients (SPs)?

Posted on December 1, 2013 by DR MERL Reviews

Now we can find out. Investigators from the Netherlands developed an internally validated scale to evaluate both the SPs role-play and feedback skills. Under conservative assumptions, 20 evaluations were needed to obtain a reliable assessment, but those numbers are easily … Continue reading →

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Who Are The Newly-Minted MDs?

Posted on December 1, 2013 by DR MERL Reviews

The US is in the middle of a rapid expansion of its yearly output of MDs.  This has resulted from both an expansion of the class size of many existing medical schools, and the addition of 16 new schools (with … Continue reading →

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How To Do More With Fewer Primary Care Doctors

Posted on December 1, 2013 by DR MERL Reviews

Both of these articles discuss ways to use outpatient physicians more efficiently through the utilization of nurses, nurse practitioners (NPs), physician assistants (PAs), and non-professional staff such as medical assistants and patient navigators.  NPs and PAs may function as full … Continue reading →

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