To assess and compare first- and third-year Czech pharmacy students' attitudes toward CAM, CAM use, CAM evidence, recommending CAM to patients, and including CAM in the pharmacy curricula.

The CAM Health Belief Questionnaire (CHBQ) was translated from English to Czech and administered to 250 first-year and 187 third-year students.

The students' mean CHBQ score was 48.5, affirming positive attitudes toward CAM. Vitamins, herbs, massage, and relaxation were the most commonly used therapies among students. Czech students reported significantly low use of evidence-based resources on CAM. Ninety percent of the pharmacy students surveyed would recommend CAM and 89% believed pharmacists should be knowledgeable of CAM. Ninety-one percent of first-year vs 78% of third-year students supported CAM education (p = 0.01).

Czech students have positive attitudes about CAM, but are less likely to access evidence-based information. They agree pharmacists should be educated about CAM.

Little is known about the relationship between medical students' expression of emotion when confronted with a traumatic medical event and their perceived communication skills and professionalism.

Eighty-nine second year medical students participated in an objective structured clinical examination (OSCE) that included a writing exercise. Standardized patients assessed student performance on communication and professionalism. Student writing samples were analysed for emotional language and coping strategies.

Two kinds of written language, high positive and distancing, were related to "active" and "detached" coping methods. Standardized patients rated students who used highly positive emotional language as having poorer professionalism and communication skills. Students who endorsed "accepting" coping were perceived as more professional.

Future research should investigate whether certain emotional expressions in medical students' writings are related to less patient-centered coping, poorer communication skills, and less professionalism.

We sought to determine medical students' learning outcomes following exposure to a 4-hour group medical visit (GMV) curriculum that focused on Spanish-speaking patients who had diabetes. The GMV was part of a 4-week block family medicine clerkship for third-year medical students.

We conducted a 1-year longitudinal, prospective study using a before and after survey and a qualitative analysis of end-of-clerkship reflective essays. Eleven survey questions captured change in knowledge about GMV resources, cultural knowledge, and attitudes toward the GMV model.

Ninety students completed the surveys. Fifty students chose to write about the GMV experience in their reflective essays. On the survey, a significant change was found in students' knowledge about culture-specific diabetic resources, cultural knowledge, and self-reported knowledge and attitude about GMVs. Qualitative analysis of the narratives and essays supported and strengthened this finding of positive attitudes about the importance of cultural competency and physician role modeling in the context of the patient-doctor relationship.

Exposure to a 4-hour GMV curriculum is associated with knowledge gain. It is also associated with a positive attitude change, congruent with learning about the relevance of patient-doctor relationship within a cross-cultural setting.

To describe a curriculum incorporating written reflection followed by reflective discussion with the goal of enhancing students' recognition and handling of cross-cultural and health disparity issues in different healthcare delivery settings. PROGRAM AND SETTING: This required curriculum was implemented within a 4-week family medicine clerkship (n = 188 students, 6 to 12 per rotation) in 23 successive rotations over 2 years. Electronic submission of a written assignment in response to structured questions was followed by in-class discussion in week 4.

Outcomes were students' session evaluations, thematic analysis of student responses, and analysis of faculty facilitators' reflections about discussion sessions. Students' cultural knowledge about their patients' health beliefs around diabetes was assessed using multiple choice questions at the beginning and end of the clerkship.

One hundred percent of students submitted narratives. Student evaluations demonstrated high acceptance, appreciation of sessions and faculty. Analyses of written assignments and in-class discussions identified recurring themes. Students achieved greater synthesis and more nuanced understanding of cross-cultural encounters after discussion. Self-rating of confidence in addressing cultural issues after the curriculum was high at 3.17 +/- SD 0.57 (1-4). Cultural knowledge scores improved significantly. Core components for success were clerkship director support, required participation, experienced faculty facilitators without evaluative roles, a structured assignment and formal forum for trigger question discussion.

Written reflection followed by facilitated peer discussion adds value to simple 'exposure' to cross-cultural clinical experiences for medical students.

We sought to determine medical students' learning outcomes following exposure to a 4-hour group medical visit (GMV) curriculum that focused on Spanish-speaking patients who had diabetes. The GMV was part of a 4-week block family medicine clerkship for third-year medical students.

We conducted a 1-year longitudinal, prospective study using a before and after survey and a qualitative analysis of end-of-clerkship reflective essays. Eleven survey questions captured change in knowledge about GMV resources, cultural knowledge, and attitudes toward the GMV model.

Ninety students completed the surveys. Fifty students chose to write about the GMV experience in their reflective essays. On the survey, a significant change was found in students' knowledge about culture-specific diabetic resources, cultural knowledge, and self-reported knowledge and attitude about GMVs. Qualitative analysis of the narratives and essays supported and strengthened this finding of positive attitudes about the importance of cultural competency and physician role modeling in the context of the patient-doctor relationship.

Exposure to a 4-hour GMV curriculum is associated with knowledge gain. It is also associated with a positive attitude change, congruent with learning about the relevance of patient-doctor relationship within a cross-cultural setting.

Background and Objectives: There are few reports of systematic international physician development programs to create family medicine as a new specialty in a developing nation. This paper describes the process and outcomes of a large-scale effort to initiate new family medicine training through the Egyptian Ministry of Health and Population (MOHP) using a 12-week US-based program at the University of California, Irvine (UCI). Methods: Generalist physicians (n=134) with I year of internship training, currently working under the MORP in Egypt, were competitively selected to participate in a training program at UCI between 1998 and 2002. Participants were assessed before, during, and after the program using multiple measures of competencies in family medicine topics, practice, and teaching. Aggregate participant data, post-program quality surveys, and follow-up surveys of the program influence on practice behaviors comprised the main measures used for program evaluation. Results: Participants showed improvement in knowledge and skills for family medicine practice and teaching for topics covered in the program. After returning to Egypt, 98% reported continued use of their newly acquired skills and knowledge. Participants reported that the program advanced their careers, they taught family medicine to other physicians, and they were likely to pursue certification under a newly established Family Medicine Board of Egypt. Self-reported practice in family medicine increased to 69% after the program versus 16% before. Conclusions: Overseas training programs are a viable method of introducing family medicine as a new clinical specialty. Ingredients for successful implementation and barriers are discussed.