New approach to medical school education
Western Michigan University is seeking to carry out a new approach to medical school education. The dean suggests that the traditional two year classroom and two year clinical training is no longer the appropriate path to take in terms of educating the best physicians. The dean suggested that more hands-on clinical experience, starting with the first year of medical school, will give future physicians a better medical education than spending half of their education in a lecture hall. The plan is to receive their accreditation from the LCME and then begin the application process for the class of 2013. While this approach seems logical in terms of the hands-on experience medical students will be receiving, the assessment of such a program is vital to test whether this is in fact a better approach to medical education.
Friday roundup
A diverse set of interesting articles I've come across recently:
An article describing various viewpoints on taking care of Jehovah's Witnesses in life-threatening situations. I like the idea of talking openly and honestly about sympathy, empathy, and the role of the physician in terms of the patient's personal or religious beliefs. This is a touching and insightful piece that may be a challenging read for some, but highlights the very important topic of cultural sensitivity, and how healthcare professionals can frame religion and culture within the world of medicine.
A thought-provoking piece illustrating some of the thoughts of Seth Godin regarding the future of education. He posits that the "Harvard model" is dead: high-priced institutions that hold classrooms of 15-300 students, being lectured to by professors on the "accumulating credits" system. Instead, he envisions a future of online, collaborative education where students can also be instructors, and physical space is replaced with digital space. He mentions the modern notions of online communities and the free sharing of and expansion upon data and ideas.
The AAMC has released the published responses to their 2011 "Question of the Year": "What improvements in medical education will lead to better health for individuals and populations?" The replies run the gamut from nutrition to financial incentives to competency-based education and beyond. Other topics include diversity, health disparities, leadership, professionalism and global health. Must-reads for anyone interested in medical education, public health, reforming healthcare, professionalism/humanism, patient safety, and pretty much any other healthcare-related topic.
An intriguing summary of the future of computing and IT points out the importance of Natural Language Processing programs, and where they are headed. When thinking about what the next generation of computers and applications will need to do, the ideas of detailed data analytics, human-like "thinking", situation/information comprehension, and insight into users/consumers are top on the list. Sentiment analysis, contextual understanding and those kinds of data manipulation and analysis are already being researched and developed at a frenetic rate (and with astronomical sums of money). Considering the ever-increasing amounts of data being created on a daily basis, it is no surprise that the next wave of computer innovation is going to revolve around making sense of it all.
Increase in medical school applicants
First time applicants to medical school reached an all-time high this year. A 2.6 percent increase was reported by the AAMC. There were also gains across most of the major racial groups. Hopefully, this rise of medical school students will help fill in the gaps in states where there is a shortage of physicians. With this increase in applicants, more positions for residency training must open as well. This is a great time for medical school applicants to increase due to the challenges our health care system faces.
Curriculum changes for School of Medicine
The University Of South Alabama College Of Medicine is taking a new approach towards medical school education. The education shift will be from lecture based classes to a more hands on approach. Classes will focus on a more system based curriculum, studying each organ individually, and working towards gaining more clinical experience. All students are said to receive instructions in the ACGME six core competencies. Students will receive more learning experiences in their years as a medical student than ever before.
The new approach is said to have many benefits to future patient care and improvement of physician education.
Social media and medical education
The link and video are examples of how social media is a changing phenomenon through all aspects of our lives. Whatever profession you are in, social media is or soon will become a huge part of your work. In is article; medical students used social media as a communication tool between medical students and instructors as well as interacting with experts in their field. Social media allows medical school students to be innovative and explore various tools outside the classrooms. Social media is becoming more and more integrated in classroom curriculums.
Engaging patients
The program was designed in Baltimore to education patients on healthcare associated infections (HAIs). The program is based on using preventative measures to decrease HAIs. This is an example of engaging patients in their own future health and educating them on preventative measures. The goal of the program is to promote and increase awareness of the HAIs as well as to empower patients. This program in particular, is designed to inform people how they can take control of their health and prevent illnesses. The program has to be assessed whether such measures are effective and whether patients will continue preventative measures after the conclusion of the program.
The program provides educational materials to hospitals as well as resources for patients. This is just the first step in engaging patients. Education programs may be effective in improving overall health; however half the battle is enticing patients to participate in educational programs and keeping up with suggestive lifestyles.
Providing patients with incentives for attending classes and showing evidence of compliance with the program can promote health as well however, there is always the argument of resources and budgeting. Engaging patients has always been a tough task and the right method has not yet been determined.
Medical training needs more focus on prevention and public health
Focusing on Public Health
Our healthcare system focuses mostly on treating illnesses and diseases after they occur, forgetting to focus on preventing them from occurring. Recent experts published in the American Journal of Preventative Medicine (AJPM), stated that focus needs to be shifted on medical education emphasizing public health and prevention methods. Focusing on prevention strategy prevents people from becoming ill and from carrying the burden of health costs.
iPads for medical school students
Stanford School of Medicine is giving an iPad to all incoming medical students starting with the class of 2014. The reason behind this thinking is to give students an innovative study tool to make their lives somewhat easier during medical school. Stanford representatives stated that providing medical school students with iPads creates opportunities for efficient, mobile, and innovative learning. The iPad also allows students to view and annotate course content electronically, facilitating advance preparation as well as in class notes taking in a highly portable, sharable and searchable format.
Stanford already had many innovative technological advances in place. Their previous technique was providing students with laptops that have integrated software which allowed students to take tests online and have infinite access to data.
Many innovative benefits are said to come from providing iPads to medical students. Students will have access to an unlimited amount of medical data which highly benefits the students in terms of learning and assessment.
An innovation emergency
The European Union has announced an initiative to put the equivalent of over $9 billion into innovation and research markets such as universities and businesses. The hope is to add close to a million jobs in these industries over time, with a particular push in the fields of math, science, engineering and technology.
Other aspects of the initiative include creating collaboration among EU countries to focus resources and make innovation easier and more efficient; and mimicking the French idea of "innovation clusters", which bring together multi-disciplinary teams for broadening knowledge-based industries (which in itself is a mimic of Silicon Valley). Global competition for jobs in these markets is fierce, with Asian countries increasingly at the helm due to their continued focus on education and research in science and technology. The EU is hoping to even the playing field a bit, and cut down on the bureaucracy surrounding awarding grant money and hiring staff.
I find it interesting that the idea is "if you build it, they will come", and that simply the creation of the infrastructure will lead to real innovation. A robust long-term plan and a focus on K-12 education and social resources are just as important, and I hope, not forgotten.
Transferring From Foreign Medical Schools
Transferring medical school is a complicated and extensive process. It is extremely difficult for a United States Medical student to transfer within medical schools. However, the process is far more complicated and difficult for foreign students looking to transfer to U.S. medical school. As stated in the article, most U.S. medical schools only consider transfer applicants If they are accredited by the LSME, however the LSME only accredits medical schools in the U.S. and Canada. While there are a number of schools that may consider foreign medical students, the numbers are very limited and extremely competitive.
For the school that do accept foreign medical school transfers, students must have taken Step 1 of the USMLE and achieve a competitive score in addition to having outstanding GPA and credentials. The fact is that foreign medical school students must have a much higher GPA and USMLE score than U.S. medical students. Other cons of transferring overseas is that foreign students need to be certified by the ECFMG, they must complete more training in the U.S. to be eligible for a license, and due to different curricula, foreign students may be required to take or repeat courses resulting in postponement of their graduation.
The assessment of foreign medical school students in the U.S., is an extremely difficult admission process and requires a great deal of work amongst those wishing to pursue their medical education in the U.S., with all the certification and requirements, students are advised to put a lot of thought and consideration before they embark on the admissions process that may not lead to the desired outcome.
This highly complex admission procedure makes one question how we can alter our assessment process to allow more skilled and knowledgeable students to become licensed physicians in the United States.