scholarly journals Second Flexner Century: The Democratization of Medical Knowledge

2017 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
pp. 237428951771887 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ronald S. Weinstein ◽  
Amy L. Waer ◽  
John B. Weinstein ◽  
Margaret M. Briehl ◽  
Michael J. Holcomb ◽  
...  

Starting in 1910, the “Flexner Revolution” in medical education catalyzed the transformation of the US medical education enterprise from a proprietary medical school dominated system into a university-based medical school system. In the 21st century, what we refer to as the “Second Flexner Century” shifts focus from the education of medical students to the education of the general population in the “4 health literacies.” Compared with the remarkable success of the first Flexner Revolution, retrofitting medical science education into the US general population today, starting with K-12 students, is a more daunting task. The stakes are high. The emergence of the patient-centered medical home as a health-care delivery model and the revelation that medical errors are the third leading cause of adult deaths in the United States are drivers of population education reform. In this century, patients will be expected to assume far greater responsibility for their own health care as full members of health-care teams. For us, this process began in the run-up to the “Second Flexner Century” with the creation and testing of a general pathology course, repurposed as a series of “gateway” courses on mechanisms of diseases, suitable for introduction at multiple insertion points in the US education continuum. In this article, we describe nomenclature for these gateway courses and a “top–down” strategy for creating pathology coursework for nonmedical students. Finally, we list opportunities for academic pathology departments to engage in a national “Democratization of Medical Knowledge” initiative.

2014 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. e62-e64
Author(s):  
Sevan Evren ◽  
Andrew Yuzhong Bi ◽  
Shuchi Talwar ◽  
Andrew Yeh ◽  
Howard Teitelbaum

Background: Doctors of osteopathic medicine (DO) are one of the fastest growing segments of health care professionals in the United States. Although Canada has taken significant leaps in the acknowledgment of US trained DOs, there continues to be a lack of understanding of the profession by Canadian trained physicians. In this article, we provide a brief overview of osteopathic medical education and training in the United States.Method: Current information of osteopathic training by American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine (AACOM) and American Osteopathic Association (AOA) was presented. Data pertaining to Canadians enrolled in osteopathic colleges was compared with allopathic (MD) and international medical graduates (IMGs).Results: Doctors of osteopathic medicine programs provide an additional pathway for students interested in pursuing a medical education. Canadian applications to osteopathic colleges are expected to grow due to successful post-graduate US residency matching, increased difficulty of matriculating at Canadian medical schools, and a greater awareness of the profession in Canada.Conclusions: Given the increasing enrollment of Canadian students in US osteopathic medical schools, we expect that Canadian DOs will play a significant role in shaping health care in both the US and Canada.


Author(s):  
Jeremy Howick ◽  
Lunan Zhao ◽  
Brenna McKaig ◽  
RAFFAELLA CAMPANER ◽  
Alessandro Rosa ◽  
...  

Rationale and Objectives Medical humanities are becoming increasingly popular, required, and recognized as positively impacting medical education and medical practice. However, the extent of medical humanities teaching in medical schools is largely unknown. We aimed to review medical school curricula in Canada, the UK, and the US. Our secondary objective was to compare the inclusion of medical humanities in the curricula with rankings of medical schools. Methods We searched the curriculum websites of all accredited medical schools in Canada, the UK, and the US to check which medical humanities topics were taught, and whether they were mandatory or optional. We then noted rankings both by Times Higher Education and U.S. News and World Report and calculated the average rank. We formally explored whether there was an association between average medical school ranking and medical humanities offerings using Spearman’s correlation and inverse variance weighting meta-analysis. Results We identified 18 accredited medical school programmes in Canada, 41 in the UK, and 156 in the US. Of these, 9 (56%) in Canada, 34 (73%) in the UK and 124 (79%) in the US offered at least one medical humanity that was not ethics. The most common medical humanities were Unspecified Medical Humanities, History, and Literature (Canada), Sociology and Social Medicine, Unspecified Medical Humanities, and Art (UK), and Unspecified Medical Humanities, Literature, and History (US). There was a negative relationship between the ranking of the medical school and whether they offered medical humanities. Conclusions The extent and content of medical humanities offerings at accredited medical schools in Canada, the UK, and the US varies. The quality of our analysis was limited by the data provided on the Universities’ curriculum websites. Given the potential for medical humanities to improve medical education and medical practice, this variation should be investigated further.


2012 ◽  
Vol 27 (5) ◽  
pp. 492-494 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jared Smith ◽  
Matthew J. Levy ◽  
Edbert B. Hsu ◽  
J. Lee Levy

AbstractIntroductionAn understanding of disaster medicine and the health care system during mass-casualty events is vital to a successful disaster response, and has been recommended as an integral part of the medical curriculum by the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC). It has been documented that medical students do not believe that they have received adequate training for responding to disasters. The purpose of this pilot study was to determine the inclusion of disaster medicine in the required course work of medical students at AAMC schools in the United States, and to identify the content areas addressed.MethodsAn electronic on-line survey was developed based upon published core competencies for health care workers, and distributed via e-mail to the education liaison for each medical school in the United States that was accredited by the AAMC. The survey included questions regarding the inclusion of disaster medicine in the medical school curricula, the type of instruction, and the content of instruction.ResultsOf the 29 (25.2%) medical schools that completed the survey, 31% incorporated disaster medicine into their medical school curricula. Of those schools that included disaster medicine in their curricula, 20.7% offered disaster material as required course work, and 17.2% offered it as elective course work. Disaster medicine topics provided at the highest frequency included pandemic influenza/severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS, 27.5%), and principles of triage (10.3%). The disaster health competency included most frequently was the ability to recognize a potential critical event and implement actions at eight (27.5%) of the responding schools.ConclusionsOnly a small percentage of US medical schools currently include disaster medicine in their core curriculum, and even fewer medical schools have incorporated or adopted competency-based training within their disaster medicine lecture topics and curricula.>SmithJ, LevyMJ, HsuEB, LevyJL. Disaster curricula in medical education: pilot survey. Prehosp Disaster Med.2012;27(5):1-3.


2006 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 99-105 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonathan B. Perlin

Ten years ago, it would have been hard to imagine the publication of an issue of a scholarly journal dedicated to applying lessons from the transformation of the United States Department of Veterans Affairs Health System to the renewal of other countries' national health systems. Yet, with the recent publication of a dedicated edition of the Canadian journal Healthcare Papers (2005), this actually happened. Veterans Affairs health care also has been similarly lauded this past year in the lay press, being described as ‘the best care anywhere’ in the Washington Monthly, and described as ‘top-notch healthcare’ in US News and World Report's annual health care issue enumerating the ‘Top 100 Hospitals’ in the United States (Longman, 2005; Gearon, 2005).


2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth G Nabel

The role of a physician as healer has grown more complex, and emphasis will increasingly be on patient and family-centric care. Physicians must provide compassionate, appropriate, and effective patient care by demonstrating competence in the attributes that are essential to successful medical practice. Beyond simply gaining medical knowledge, modern physicians embrace lifelong learning and need effective interpersonal and communication skills. Medical professionalism encompasses multiple attributes, and physicians are increasingly becoming part of a larger health care team. To ensure that physicians are trained in an environment that fosters innovation and alleviates administrative burdens, the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education has recently revamped the standards of accreditation for today’s more than 130 specialties and subspecialties. This chapter contains 6 references and 5 MCQs.


2019 ◽  
Vol 105 (2) ◽  
pp. 7-23 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aaron Young ◽  
Humayun J. Chaudhry ◽  
Xiaomei Pei ◽  
Katie Arnhart ◽  
Michael Dugan ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT There are 985,026 physicians with Doctor of Medicine (MD) and Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine (DO) degrees licensed to practice medicine in the United States and the District of Columbia, according to physician census data compiled by the Federation of State Medical Boards (FSMB). These qualified physicians graduated from 2,089 medical schools in 167 countries and are available to serve a U.S. national population of 327,167,434. While the percentage of physicians who are international medical graduates have remained relatively stable over the last eight years, the percentage of physicians who are women, possess a DO degree, have three or more licenses, or are graduates of a medical school in the Caribbean have increased by varying degrees during that same period. This report marks the fifth biennial physician census that the FSMB has published, highlighting key characteristics of the nation's available physician workforce, including numbers of licensees by geographic region and state, type of medical degree, location of medical school, age, gender, specialty certification and number of active licenses per physician. The number of licensed physicians in the United States has been growing steadily, due in part to an expansion in the number of medical schools and students during the past two decades, even as concerns of a physician shortage to meet health care demands persist. The average age of licensed physicians continues to increase, and more licensed physicians appear to be specialty certified, though the latter finding may reflect more comprehensive reporting. This census was compiled using the FSMB's Physician Data Center (PDC), which collects, collates and analyzes physician data directly from the nation's state medical and osteopathic boards and is uniquely positioned to provide a comprehensive snapshot of information about licensed physicians. A periodic national census of this type offers useful demographic and licensure information about the available physician workforce that may be useful to policy makers, researchers and related health care organizations to better understand and address the nation's health care needs.


2021 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  

Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic has driven many health care institutions in the United States beyond their capacity. Physicians-in-training in graduate medical education programs have suffered the strain of providing patient care during this unprecedented time of crisis. The significant prevalence of pre-existing resident and fellow burnout and depression makes the need for action by institutions to support the well-being of residents and fellows even more urgent. We aim to describe innovative adaptations our Office of Graduate Medical Education implemented with the support of institutional leadership as responses to promote the well-being of residents and fellows on the frontlines during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: The Office of Graduate Medical Education (GME), in collaboration with the Office of Well-being and Resilience, developed a set of resources and interventions to support trainees during the pandemic based on four major categories: workplace culture, personal factors and health, mental health support, and workplace efficiency and function. Examination of the capacity of existing services and gaps that needed to be filled in the rapidly evolving early days of the COVID pandemic led to a robust growth in resources. For example, the already established Student and Trainee Mental Health program was able to expand and adapt its role to serve trainee needs more effectively. Results: We expanded resources to target trainee well-being across a broad array of domains within a short time frame. With investment in access to the Student and Trainee Mental Health program, utilization increased by 25.7%, with 1,231 more visits in 2020 compared to the number of visits in 2019, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. The creation of Recharge Rooms had a positive impact on the well-being of health care workers. After a single fifteen-minute experience in the Recharge Room, an average 59.6% reduction in self-reported stress levels was noted by users. Other interventions were noted to be helpful in regular town hall meetings with trainees. Conclusion: Addressing trainee well-being is an essential aspect of a crisis response. The Mount Sinai Health System was able to care for the physical, mental, psychosocial, and safety needs of our trainees thanks to the collaborative effort of a pre-existing institutional well-being program and the GME Office. The ability to implement such a response was enabled by our well-being foundation, which allowed leadership at the highest institutional level and the Office of GME to provide support in response to this unprecedented crisis.


Author(s):  
Adelia Jenkins ◽  
Dennis Culhane

Background Actionable Intelligence for Social Policy (AISP) is an initiative of the University of Pennsylvania that focuses on the development, use, and innovation of integrated data systems (IDS). We convene a network of IDS across the United States and provide technical assistance to support developing sites as they build the technical and human capacity to integrate and use administrative data across agencies. Main AimIn late 2018 and early 2019, AISP conducted a national survey of integrated data efforts to better understand the landscape and how it’s changed since the last national scan was completed in 2013. The survey also served to document who is leading data sharing efforts, what data they are linking, and how linked data are currently being used. This information was used to create a centralized data matrix and contact list in order to support cross-site learning and facilitate future projects and analyses. Methods/ApproachThe survey was disseminated to AISP Network Sites, Learning Community sites, and others by AISP staff and partner organizations, including the National Neighborhood Indicators Partnership Network and Arnold Policy Labs initiative. Survey responses were analyzed by AISP in spring 2019. ResultsThe survey yielded 39 responses from state and local governments and their research partners. The most common uses of integrated data among those surveyed are informing policy, program evaluation, and research. Integrated case management and resource allocation are also increasingly informed by integrated data. The most commonly integrated data sources are early childhood, child welfare, and K-12 education. Medicaid, TANF, SNAP, and UI Wage Records have also been integrated by over 50% of sites surveyed. The most common lingering challenges reported by sites related to sustainability. ConclusionSurvey results document the purposes and sources of data currently integrated by jurisdictions across the US and have major implications for the field both nationally and internationally.


PEDIATRICS ◽  
1977 ◽  
Vol 59 (3) ◽  
pp. 323-324
Author(s):  
Robert D. Burnett ◽  
Mary Kaye Willian ◽  
Richard W. Olmsted

In the 1960s, predictions were made that the United States faced a "physician shortage."1,2 On the basis of these predictions, federal legislation subsidized the establishment of new medical schools and the expansion of those in existence. From 1968 to 1974, the number of medical school graduates rose from 7,973 to 11,613.3 Nevertheless, problems of availability of, and access to, health services remain. Mere increase in number of physicians is not the solution to the problem of health care delivery in the United States; in fact, there is concern that we now face an oversupply of physicians.4 The recently published Carnegie report recommends that only "one" new medical school be established.5


2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth G Nabel

The role of a physician as healer has grown more complex, and emphasis will increasingly be on patient and family-centric care. Physicians must provide compassionate, appropriate, and effective patient care by demonstrating competence in the attributes that are essential to successful medical practice. Beyond simply gaining medical knowledge, modern physicians embrace lifelong learning and need effective interpersonal and communication skills. Medical professionalism encompasses multiple attributes, and physicians are increasingly becoming part of a larger health care team. To ensure that physicians are trained in an environment that fosters innovation and alleviates administrative burdens, the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education has recently revamped the standards of accreditation for today’s more than 130 specialties and subspecialties. This review contains six references.


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