Endocrinology, Diabetes and Hypertension

Graham McMahon, M.D., M.M.Sc.

1. Educational development requires the ongoing evaluation of strategies to enhance competency and learning. Behavioral change is the highest tier of educational attainment, and is the most challenging to assess. Our projects explore novel approaches to improving learning among medical students and residents, with a particular emphasis on exploring the impact of educational technology. Our prior work has demonstrated the careful design and delivery of education can change behavior, and with our ongoing research initiatives we plan to build on this experience to enhance the acceptability, efficiency and efficacy of medical education.
2. Diabetes care is facilitated by a patient’s being engaged in a self-management program with the advice and counsel of physicians and allied health professionals. As healthcare systems have adopted care management for individuals with high-risk diseases, particularly patients with diabetes, an evaluation of the efficacy of such an approach has been lacking. At the Diabetes Research Unit, we seek to develop, implement, and evaluate processes and applications that can serve to enhance and facilitate the engagement of patients with diabetes with their healthcare provider, and reduce the impact of diabetes on cardiovascular health.

Current and Planned Projects:

1. Assessment of the educational efficacy of video-based training on the competency of medical residents in performing medical procedures
2. Development of a longitudinal curriculum in evidence-based medicine at Harvard Medical School
3. Assessment of utility, acceptability and utility of online learning to improve learning of systems-based practice and error prevention.
4. A qualitative exploration of the motivations of medical residents for participating in educational research
5. The Diabetes Research Evaluation and Management (DREAM) trial explores a web-based home-care system using care delivered online and by telephone as compared with usual care.
6. The Diabetes Interventions for Vascular Endpoints (DIVE) study will explore the role for an intensive pre-operative risk management program.

1. McMahon GT, Marina O, Kritek PA, Katz JT.  Effect of a physical examination teaching program on the behavior of medical residents. J Gen Intern Med. 2005 Aug;20(8):710-4.
2. McMahon GT, Monaghan C, Falchuk K, Gordon JA, Alexander EK.  A simulator-based curriculum to promote comparative and reflective analysis in an internal medicine clerkship. Acad Med. 2005 Jan;80(1):84-9.
3. Patti ME, McMahon G, Mun EC, Bitton A, Holst JJ, Goldsmith J et al.  Severe hypoglycaemia post-gastric bypass requiring partial pancreatectomy: evidence for inappropriate insulin secretion and pancreatic islet hyperplasia. Diabetologia. 2005 Nov;48(11):2236-40.
4. McMahon GT, Gomes HE, Hickson Hohne S, Hu TM, Levine BA, Conlin PR.  Web-based care management in patients with poorly controlled diabetes. Diabetes Care. 2005 Jul;28(7):1624-9.
5. McMahon GT, Plutzky J, Daher E, Bhattacharyya T, Grunberger G, DiCarli MF.  Effect of a peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-gamma agonist on myocardial blood flow in type 2 diabetes. Diabetes Care. 2005 May;28(5):1145-50.