EVALUATION OF QUICK-MEDICAL-REFERENCE (QMR) AS A TEACHING TOOL

To determine whether the Quick Medical Reference (QMR) program can imp rove diagnosis or enhance learning among internal medicine residents, we compared the diagnostic accuracy of the program with that of reside nts at various training levels. The cases were from a prospective conv enience sample of 40 patients admitted by 10 first-year residents (int erns) and two chief medical residents. Four sets of differential diagn oses were created for each case-the first set by an intern, the second set by a chief resident, and the third and fourth sets by QMR, using the findings of the interns and chief residents, respectively. The dia gnostic accuracy of the interns and chief residents was significantly greater than that of QMR. However, the chief residents indicated that QMR did increase their understanding of disease processes and offered educational value.