In the last few years, physician manpower studies have shown there are now enough practicing specialists to meet the needs of our country, but there is a substantial shortage of well-trained academic pulmonary physicians. My goals are to increase the number of academic pulmonary physicians trained at the University of Illinois and to improve the medical school pulmonary curriculum. My hypotheses are that students do not have a great awareness of academic pulmonary medicine. This lack of awareness may be because pulmonary as is presently taught is diffuse. This study in itself may increase student awareness of academic pulmonary medicine. Furthermore, some coordination of teaching and focusing of faculty efforts may improve the concept of this field. Secondly, by providing more student research opportunities, there will be exposure to role models, identification of research activities, and a chance for success in an investigative project which may foster a research career. And thirdly, by looking at the pulmonary curriculum, both as regards to content and approach, and by surveying student and faculty attitudes, I hope to coordinate an improvement in the pulmonary program. By strengthening the pulmonary curriculum, students may improve their overall pulmonary knowledge and attitudes particularly about pulmonary academic medicine. The first phase of this evaluation will be formulating a description from existing documents and students and faculty interviews. Analysis will include correlation between pulmonary medicine exposure and pulmonary electives and which interactive forces are influential in students choosing academic pulmonary medicine. After assessment of the present program, in discussion with experts from education, pulmonary medicine and the faculty involved, we will develop a plan for changes, especially in regard to those factors found to influence students' choice of academic pulmonary medicine. We will implement these changes with a plan to study their impact by similar means, such as annual student questionnaire and follow-up students to see if there is an increase in those going into pulmonary academic medicine. I will also enroll in a master's program in health professions education.
