The statistic about 20% of patients who present at the Emergency Room (ER) leaving without being seen raises some questions. Did they leave and go home? Or did they leave and go to another hospital? If they went home, they probably should never have gone to the ER. If they went to another ER, they probably had to wait too long.
It may be counterintuitive but our research suggests ER traffic is set to rise as Medicaid eligibility is expanded.
The first two years of college are generally spent getting gen eds out of the way. I have to say sociology 100, philosophy 101, etc. did little for me.
I agree that a lot of this is stemming from the lack of a more rigid core curriculum. Many universities these days don’t require said core curriculum for their students–that is, they simply allow them to focus on the subject their degree is in, which allows them to skate by and take easy classes, and also brings about this college kid laziness. Here is an interesting article talking about grading colleges based on their curriculum (Harvard got a D): http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/11/19/AR2010111907408.html?tid=nn_twitter
The figure on diabetes treatment sounds bad, but as the article indicates, 99 percent in Mexico are in a similar category. I would be interested in hearing from diabetics on this, because I’ve never known anyone with Type I (or insulin-dependent, adult onset diabetes unrelated to weight) who has been able to consistently control their blood glucose levels. In other words, it is my impression, we don’t know how to treat insulin-dependent diabetes very well. As a result of its toll on a person’s organs, complications often ensue.
I read the article in the Washington Post. I thought it made an interesting point. However, the “great books” model of schools that force you to learn Ancient Greek and Latin would not seem to prepare modern-day Americans for 21st Century jobs. I’m not sure that more Shakespeare would help with critical thinking.
The solution to critical thinking should start with challenging coursework that is more advanced than what was (supposed to be) learned in high school. Certain topics should be mastered, such as English language and writing. A course on basic economics would be a good start and math classes beyond simple addition and subtraction.
When students and interns seek my advice on education, I always tell them to make sure they have skills that are transferable to the real world. Math, quantitative methods and computer knowledge are skills business all need.
If you really want to have competitive universities, you have to screen candidates based on merit alone, not social status or monetary ability. Harvard isn’t interested in educating students; Harvard is interested in building the Harvard network.
Also, I’m not convinced that it is necessary to have students take a “broad base” of subjects. I agree with Devon’s assertion about math and English. These classes have been the ones that benefited me the most. My freshman year college physics class (which boasted a failure rate of 40%) has been 100% useless in my life. My university collected an extra $800 from me for what amounted to a waste of my time.
On California ERs. Just wait for Obama Care. You haven’t seen anything yet.
It’s hard to learn a lot when you main focus is on beer drinking, womanizing, etc.
The statistic about 20% of patients who present at the Emergency Room (ER) leaving without being seen raises some questions. Did they leave and go home? Or did they leave and go to another hospital? If they went home, they probably should never have gone to the ER. If they went to another ER, they probably had to wait too long.
It may be counterintuitive but our research suggests ER traffic is set to rise as Medicaid eligibility is expanded.
The first two years of college are generally spent getting gen eds out of the way. I have to say sociology 100, philosophy 101, etc. did little for me.
I agree that a lot of this is stemming from the lack of a more rigid core curriculum. Many universities these days don’t require said core curriculum for their students–that is, they simply allow them to focus on the subject their degree is in, which allows them to skate by and take easy classes, and also brings about this college kid laziness. Here is an interesting article talking about grading colleges based on their curriculum (Harvard got a D): http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/11/19/AR2010111907408.html?tid=nn_twitter
The figure on diabetes treatment sounds bad, but as the article indicates, 99 percent in Mexico are in a similar category. I would be interested in hearing from diabetics on this, because I’ve never known anyone with Type I (or insulin-dependent, adult onset diabetes unrelated to weight) who has been able to consistently control their blood glucose levels. In other words, it is my impression, we don’t know how to treat insulin-dependent diabetes very well. As a result of its toll on a person’s organs, complications often ensue.
I read the article in the Washington Post. I thought it made an interesting point. However, the “great books” model of schools that force you to learn Ancient Greek and Latin would not seem to prepare modern-day Americans for 21st Century jobs. I’m not sure that more Shakespeare would help with critical thinking.
The solution to critical thinking should start with challenging coursework that is more advanced than what was (supposed to be) learned in high school. Certain topics should be mastered, such as English language and writing. A course on basic economics would be a good start and math classes beyond simple addition and subtraction.
When students and interns seek my advice on education, I always tell them to make sure they have skills that are transferable to the real world. Math, quantitative methods and computer knowledge are skills business all need.
If you really want to have competitive universities, you have to screen candidates based on merit alone, not social status or monetary ability. Harvard isn’t interested in educating students; Harvard is interested in building the Harvard network.
Also, I’m not convinced that it is necessary to have students take a “broad base” of subjects. I agree with Devon’s assertion about math and English. These classes have been the ones that benefited me the most. My freshman year college physics class (which boasted a failure rate of 40%) has been 100% useless in my life. My university collected an extra $800 from me for what amounted to a waste of my time.