GEOFF NORMAN McMaster University, Hamilton, Canada CEES VAN DER VLEUTEN University of Maastricht, Netherlands DA VID NEWBLE University of Sheffield, England The International Handbook of Research in Medical Education is a review of current research findings and contemporary issues in health sciences education. The orientation is toward research evidence as a basis for informing policy and practice in education. Although most of the research findings have accrued from the study of medical education, the handbook will be useful to teachers and researchers in all health professions and others concerned with professional education. The handbook comprises 33 chapters organized into six sections: Research Traditions, Learning, The Educational Continuum, Instructional Strategies, Assessment, and Implementing the Curriculum. The research orientation of the handbook will make the book an invaluable resource to researchers and scholars, and should help practitioners to identify research to place their educational decisions on a sound empirical footing. THE FIELD OF RESEARCH IN MEDICAL EDUCAnON The discipline of medical education began in North America more than thirty years ago with the founding of the first office in medical education at Buffalo, New York, by George Miller in the early 1960s. Soon after, large offices were established in medical schools in Chicago (University of Illinois), Los Angeles (University of Southern California) and Lansing (Michigan State University). All these first generation offices mounted master's level programs in medical education, and many of their graduates went on to found offices at other schools.
Industry Reviews
From the reviews:
"[...] the text is well written, clear and concise throughout. It is likely that this will remain one of the most important reference texts for many years to come and will find a comfortable place on the bookshelf of any medical educator."
(Dr J.L. Burton in ACP News, Autumn 2003)
"This book is an excellent resource, lacking in no respect. Curriculum reform, management, and implementation, topics most medical teachers are involved in, covered in Section six, comes as the icing on the cake. In order for every medical teacher/educator to be able to see the "big picture", this final section is a must read."
(Croatian Medical Journal, 45:2, 2004)