Cancer patients' complaints of impaired cognition following chemotherapy are fairly common but poorly documented among adult patients. Neuropsychological testing was used to evaluate current cognitive functioning of 28 stage I and II breast cancer patients (ages 28–54) who had completed 3 to 18 months of adjuvant chemotherapy, from 0.5 to 12 months prior to testing. Effects of drug regimen, length of treatment and level of depression on cognitive functioning were examined. Despite estimated high‐normal pre‐morbid intelligence (mean FSIQ 113) patients scored significantly below age‐, education‐, and gender‐corrected test norms in areas of verbal and visual memory, mental flexibility and speed of processing, attention and concentration, visuospatial ability and motor function. Of patients, 75% scored ‐2SDs (moderate impairment) on one or more test measures. Level of cognitive impairment was unrelated to depression, type of chemotherapy and time since treatment, but was positively related to length of chemotherapy treatment. These preliminary findings suggest that cognitive impairment may follow conventional adjuvant chemotherapy treatment and warrant replication with a controlled and more rigorous longitudinal design.

In July 1975, the Division of Ambulatory and Community Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, initiated an interdisciplinary team education program as part of a required core medical clerkship in primary care. Significant emphasis was placed on evaluation of student and patient service outcomes. Overall, students rated the teaching in the program as moderately effective. The major measured gain for students was in their formal knowledge of the principles of teamwork, with secondary gains in patient problem-solving skills. The gains in knowledge were greatest for medicine and pharmacy students. During the team education program, the average number of patients seen by student providers was greater than it had been during previous clerkships. Similarly, the comprehensiveness of care provided was higher during the team education program. Although no significant differences were found between student teams and individual providers, those teams with consistent membership from all three participating disciplines (medicine, pharmacy, and nursing) delivered more comprehensive care.

The purpose of the research was to study the dimensions faculty members associate with being a good teacher. One hundred nineteen faculty members described the most effective and least effective teacher they knew using a set of 67 statements. A principal‐components analysis of the descriptions of effective teachers produced 5 factors: Research Activity and Recognition, Participation in the Academic Community, Intellectual Breadth, Relations with Students, and Concern for Teaching. Only Research Activity and Recognition was significantly related to the academic rank and discipline of teachers nominated as effective. Rank, discipline, age and length of teaching experience of the nominators were unrelated to their descriptions of effective teachers. However, faculty with heavier teaching loads were more likely to assign high scores on Concern for Teaching and low scores on Research Activity and Recognition to the teacher they nominated as effective.