The Center for Research in Medical Education & Health Care's Medical Education activities in­clude consultation and technical support to the faculty in evalu­ating the knowledge, skills and professionalism of students throughout the MD curriculum. We provide information to the Dean's Office and academic departments concerning the key per­formance metrics used to evaluate the effective­ness of policies related to admissions, curricu­lum and students' academic progress. Routine reports to the administration staff adhere to student career counseling and federal reporting requirements related to financial aid and training grants for medical students. Our psychometric and statistical consultation to faculty members supports the Sidney Kimmel Medical College faculty development programs.

We continue to con­duct research in medical education using data from the Jefferson Longitudinal Study of Medical Education. Significant effort involves empirical studies related to professionalism. These studies have included empathy in patient care using the Jefferson Scale of Empathy; lifelong learning using the Jefferson Scale of Physician Lifelong Learning; interprofessional collaboration using the Jefferson Scale of Attitudes toward Physician-Nurse Collaboration, the Jefferson Scale of Attitudes toward Physician-Pharmacist Collaboration and the Jefferson Scale of Patient Satisfaction with Primary Care Physicians. Other recent research activities included studies of clinical skills assessment, teaching residents about end-of-life discussions, self-assessment in surgery and evaluation of educational programs.