Modern Challenges of Medical Education- BWH Bulletin - For and about the People of Brigham and Women's Hospital
Modern Challenges of Medical Education- BWH Bulletin - For and about the People of Brigham and Women's Hospital
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December 27, 2002
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In This Issue:
A Forecast for the Future of Health Care
A Discussion with Gary Gottlieb, MD, MBA, BWH President
Hospitals and Health Care Workers Not Immune to Current Incoming Challenges
New President Provides Long-Term Outlook for Partners
New Leader Sheds Light on MGH’s Upcoming Challenges, Opportunities
The National Face of Health Care
Modern Challenges of Medical Education
Dean of Harvard Medical School Joseph Martin, MD, PhD, offers Bulletin a candid perspective of the evolving face of medical education.
What advice would you share with a high school graduate interested in pursuing a career in medicine?
Martin
: Students entering college hoping to attend medical school one day should pursue a broad curriculum that will excite them while demonstrating the ability to master the science necessary to study medicine. They should test their interest in medicine in a real world setting and many medical schools look for evidence of compassion, service to others, or leadership.
What are some of the modern challenges of medical education? How will HMS’s new medical education model help meet those challenges?
Martin
: Medical education faces many challenges today. Perhaps the most vexing challenge centers around change in the hospital practice environment that limits students’ time with patients and limits faculty time with students. This will be a primary focus of the Task Force on Medical Education that I appointed in December. It is too early to know the solution they will propose, but it is highly likely to involve ways to protect teaching time for faculty and to broaden our definition of medical student clerkships to include more types of patient care settings and more opportunities to participate in a continuum of care.
Do you feel the new residency training requirements will impact the caliber of future physicians?
Martin
: The new limit on duty hours for resident physicians is a change that is right for medicine today. With the level of acuity of patients in our hospitals, we need to make sure that resident physicians are always ready for that level of intensity required to deliver the best possible care. For surgery residents, we may need to make some adjustments to our systems to make sure that they are sufficiently exposed to all the procedures they will need to perform in the future, but I am sure that can be accomplished.