New Pathways To Medical Education

This book describes efforts made at Harvard Medical School during the past to reorient general medical education. Harvard's New Pathway has received national attention since its inception--including a multipart special on PBS's Nova--because it offers a radical restructuring of the traditional medical school curriculum.

Primary care medicine is the new frontier in medicine. Every nation in the world has recognized the necessity to deliver personal and primary care to its people. This includes first-contact care, care based in a positive and caring personal rela tionship, care by a single healthcare provider for the majority of the patient's prob lems, coordination of all care by the patient's personal provider, advocacy for the patient by the provider, the provision of preventive care and psychosocial care, as well as care for episodes of acute and chronic illness. These facets of care work most effectively when they are embedded in a coherent integrated approach. The support for primary care derives from several significant trends. First, technologically based care costs have rocketed beyond reason or availability, occurring in the face of exploding populations and diminishing real resources in many parts of the world, even in the wealthier nations. Simultaneously, the primary care disciplines-general internal medicine and pediatrics and family medicine-have matured significantly. They have become viable alternatives to the specialty approach to care with its potential dehumanization, coordination problems, and increased cost.

Created in partnership with the Association for the Study of Medical Education (ASME), this completely revised and updated new edition of Understanding Medical Education synthesizes the latest knowledge, evidence and best practice across the continuum of medical education. Written and edited by an international team, this latest edition continues to cover a wide range of subject matter within five broad areas – Foundations, Teaching and Learning, Assessment and Selection, Research and Evaluation, and Faculty and Learners – as well as featuring a wealth of new material, including new chapters on the science of learning, knowledge synthesis, and learner support and well-being. The third edition of Understanding Medical Education: Provides a comprehensive and authoritative resource summarizing the theoretical and academic bases to modern medical education practice Meets the needs of all newcomers to medical education whether undergraduate or postgraduate, including those studying at certificate, diploma or masters level Offers a global perspective on medical education from leading experts from across the world Providing practical guidance and exploring medical education in all its diversity, Understanding Medical Education continues to be an essential resource for both established educators and all those new to the field.

Offering theoretical insights and practical suggestions, Achieving Excellence in Medical Education explores an essential question facing medical educators and learners: What is our vision of educational excellence and what can be done to enhance performance? Coverage includes: resources for promoting excellence in medical education, promises and pitfalls of new educational technologies, and medical education’s role in preparing future leaders.

The purpose of medical education is to benefit patients by improving the work of doctors. Patient centeredness is a centuries old concept in medicine, but there is still a long way to go before medical education can truly be said to be patient centered. Ensuring the centrality of the patient is a particular challenge during medical education, when students are still forming an identity as trainee doctors, and conservative attitudes towards medicine and education are common amongst medical teachers, making it hard to bring about improvements. How can teachers, policy makers, researchers and doctors bring about lasting change that will restore the patient to the heart of medical education? The authors, experienced medical educators, explore the role of the patient in medical education in terms of identity, power and location. Using innovative political, philosophical, cultural and literary critical frameworks that have previously never been applied so consistently to the field, the authors provide a fundamental reconceptualisation of medical teaching and learning, with an emphasis upon learning at the bedside and in the clinic. They offer a wealth of practical and conceptual insights into the three-way relationship between patients, students and teachers, setting out a radical and exciting approach to a medical education for the future. “The authors provide us with a masterful reconceptualization of medical education that challenges traditional notions about teaching and learning. The book critiques current practices and offers new approaches to medical education based upon sociocultural research and theory. This thought provoking narrative advances the case for reform and is a must read for anyone involved in medical education.” - David M. Irby, PhD, Vice Dean for Education, University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine; and co-author of Educating Physicians: A Call for Reform of Medical School and Residency "This book is a truly visionary contribution to the Flexner centenary. It is compulsory reading for the medical educationalist with a serious concern for the future - and for the welfare of patients and learners in the here and now." Professor Tim Dornan, University of Manchester Medical School and Maastricht University Graduate School of Health Professions Education.

A Springer Series on Medical Education book "This is a book about the origins, design, implementation, and effects of the [Primary Care Curriculum at the University of New Mexico School of Medicine]. It is also so much more. It is a first-person account of a moving human experience, in which somes deeply caring people search for ways to provide a humane, effective learning experience for students who are seen as preparing to be practitioners of a humane, changing profession....In the 1920s, Gertrude Stein observed that the United States was now the oldest country in the world, for it was the first to join the twentieth century. Perhaps, we must now view the University of New Mexico's PCC as among the oldest programs in medical education, for it may prove to have been one of the first to join the twenty-first century."--Hilliard Jason, MD, EdD, Director, National Center for Faculty Development in the Health Professions, University of Miami School of Medicine

The renewal of medical curricula generally arises from emerging pedagogies (e.g. problem-based learning), new technologies (e.g. high fidelity simulation), or prevailing sociocultural forces (e.g. complexity of health care delivery and team-based care). Approximately 15 years ago, a team of physicians and administrators sought to take this further: by considering the very nature of medical practice and the patient-physician relationship that is the context and conduit of caring and care, they restructured the composition and function of medical education. This book, Physicianship and the Rebirth of Medical Education, is the authoritative publication on the philosophy, design, and implementation of this new curriculum. From first year to graduation, this book reimagines the education of medical students in its entire scope. It discusses the epistemology of clinical practice and pedagogical methods and addresses pragmatic issues of curricular implementation. The educational blueprint presented in the book rests on a new definition of sickness, one focused on impairments of function as the primary issue of concern for both patients and their care givers. This perspective avoids the common shift of medical attention from persons to diseases, and thus provides the basis for an authentic and robust patient-centered mindset. The title of the book refers to a "rebirth." This implies that there was a previous "birth." Indeed, the critical ingredients of medical education were articulated historically and many features emanate from a time-honored apprenticeship model. This book recognizes in William Osler and his "natural method of teaching the subject of medicine" the foundational elements for teaching physicianship. The practice of medicine is indelibly relational and, in turn, medical education is an intellectual and an emotional journey that is rooted in clinical relationships. As this book shows, medicine must unfold in the context of patient care; patients, not diseases, should be the center of attention.

Medical Education: Theory and Practice is a new text linking the theory and the practice for graduate students and educators who want to go beyond the basics. The scholarship of medical education is, above all, a ‘practice’, but one that has a strong theoretical foundation. Neither theory nor practice stand still, and both are grounded in research. The novelty of this book lies in its interweaving of practice, theory, innovation and research. The book starts with a theorised, contemporary overview of the field. Next, it explores the theoretical foundations of medical education in depth. The remainder of the book reviews a whole a range of educational contexts, processes and outcomes. This work has been edited by a distinguished, international team of medical educationalists and written by equally accomplished authors from across the globe representing a spectrum of disciplines. This will be an invaluable text for all Masters Students in health professions education as well as PhD students and education researchers wanting a background to the discipline. Educators and medical students will also find it a very useful resource. Written by key figures in medical educational research combined with a strong editorial influence from the international editorial team. The text has a strong evidence-based approach that is fully cognisant of research methodology issues, The book provides a scholarly explanation on the topic, rather than aiming to say the last word. Written throughout in a clear and comprehensible style. The content is extensively referenced with additional suggestions for further reading.