Patients with solitary sites of spine involvement from solid tumors represent a biologically favorable subgroup with potential for long-term survival. In this group, complete surgical excision before irradiation should be considered to increase the prospects of long-term palliation and possible cure.

Using this model of evaluation, a connection can be made between teaching and learning about all the expected roles of a physician. This can form the basis for systematic investigation into the relationship between the quality of teaching and the desired outcomes, the improvement of student learning and the achievement of better health care practice. It is suggested that the extent of effort and resources devoted to evaluation should be commensurate with the value assigned to the evaluation process and its outcomes.

Good clinical teaching is concerned with providing role models for good practice, making good practice visible and explaining it to trainees. This is the very basis of clinicians as professionals, the seventh role, and should be the foundation for the further development of clinicians as excellent clinical teachers.

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This study found no evidence that students' self-reported SDL is positively influenced by the current undergraduate medical curriculum at the University of Toronto Faculty of Medicine.

A major impediment to the use of the objective structured clinical examination (OSCE) is that it is a labor-intensive and costly form of assessment. The cost of an OSCE is highly dependent on the particular model used, the extent to which hidden costs are reported, and the purpose of the examination. The authors detail hypothetical costs of running a four-hour OSCE for 120 medical students at one medical school. Costs are reported for four phases of this process: development, production, administration, and post-examination reporting and analysis. Costs are reported at two ends of the spectrum: the high end, where it is assumed that little is paid for by the institution and that faculty receive honoraria for work put into the examination; and the low end, where it is assumed that the sponsoring institution defrays basic costs and that faculty do not receive honoraria for their participation. The total costs reported for a first-time examination were $104,400 and $59,460 (Canadian dollars) at the high and low ends, respectively. These translate to per-student costs of $870 and $496. The cost of running an OSCE is high. However, the OSCE is uniquely capable of assessing many fundamental clinical skills that are presently not being assessed in a rigorous way in most medical schools.

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