How can medical education better embrace and support young, underrepresented minorities who dream of becoming medical professionals? How can current medical education systems and practices revitalize so that they allow students with heart and soul to rise, thrive and serve their communities? Innovations in medical education can and are leading to changes in the supply, composition and distribution of the primary care workforce. Learn about pioneering medical education programs that are committed to a new approach:
A.T. Still University (ATSU)
NACHC partnered with A.T. Still University to open new dental and medical schools to ensure an ongoing supply of primary care providers for health centers. Both the School of Osteopathic Medicine in Arizona (SOMA) and the Arizona School of Dentistry & Oral Health (ASDOH) have innovative curricula, state-of-the-art technologies and a community focus throughout the curriculum. They seek to attract and enroll community-minded applicants with the character to serve the nation’s safety net of Community Health Centers.
SOMA students spend the first year at A.T. Still University’s Mesa, Arizona campus. In years two through four, students move to one of 11 Community Health Center Contextual Learning Campuses. Teaching is provided by a mix of medical school, health center and community faculty. This experience includes classroom work, primary care clinical experience and affiliated specialty rotations.
Students also implement and manage community-based health research projects: click here for the 2009 ATSU Student Research Projects and here for the 2010 Medical Student Community Projects.
NACHC Honors ATSU-SOMA & The Graduating Class of 2011
NACHC congratulates A.T. Still University and its first class of 96 graduating students from ATSU-SOMA. The promise of affordable and accessible care begins with these future healers who will go forth and break new ground in the delivery of primary care in communities across America. We applaud the University and Faculty who are fostering a vision for an innovative model of medical education that will transform the health care landscape. NACHC is proud of our partnership with ATSU-SOMA – a partnership which aims to develop a medical education program that utilizes America’s Health Centers as a training ground for physicians. The community health classroom brings into focus the challenges of the medically underserved and chronically ill, and provides the clinicians of tomorrow a unique perspective on the human experience in health care. By building on this knowledge, we can change health care delivery one person at a time. We salute your hard work, your inspiration, and commitment to improve community health.
East Tennessee State University (ETSU), Quillen College of Medicine
The primary mission of the Quillen College of Medicine is to educate future physicians, especially those with an interest in primary care, to practice in underserved rural communities.
Medical Education Futures Study (MEFS)
The Medical Education Futures Study (MEFS) is an initiative funded by the Josiah Macy, Jr. Foundation to examine the social mission of medical education during the current period of medical school expansion. Its web site disseminates information and data for students, educators, practitioners, researchers, policy analysts, policy makers and members of the press.
"Medical schools cannot, of course, attend to the social mission of medicine by themselves. Many factors—including graduate medical education, practice opportunities and the economics of health care—impact physicians' specialty choices and practice decisions. However, if the schools do not have strategies in place to address these problems as part of their mission and vision, the current epoch of expansion will not realize its potential to reduce disparities in access to healthcare and to improve educational opportunities for minorities."
— Fitzhugh Mullan, M.D., Principal Investigator of the MEFS
Future of Family Medicine and Implications for Rural Primary Care Physician Supply
August 2010. The precipitous decline in student interest in the field of family medicine over the past decade is exacerbating the crisis posed by the persistent shortage of providers in rural areas of the United States. Family physicians are the foundation of the rural health care system, with generalists accounting for almost half of rural physicians. Their presence is even more critical in the smallest and most isolated communities where they constitute the majority of all physicians. This policy discussion examines the rural physician shortage, the effect of recent trends in specialty choice on provider supply, and major trends that are changing the dynamics that shape the delivery of health care. It concludes with a discussion of how private efforts and federal and state policy options can be refined to ensure adequate and high-quality health care in rural America.
The Future of Family Medicine and Implications for Rural Primary Care Physician Supply,” Final Report #125, by Roger A. Rosenblatt, MD, MPH, Frederick M. Chen, MD, MPH, Denise M. Lishner, MSW, and Mark P. Doescher, MD, MSPH, is a report based on estimates of the future supply of family physicians, taking into account recent patterns in specialty choice. We performed analyses of medical school graduates from 1988 through 1997, determining the discipline they entered, the location of their residency programs, and where they decided to practice, on an urban-rural continuum. We selected these cohorts to allow us to follow the career trajectories of the most recent graduates (from 1997) through residency training (3-5 years) and establishment of their practices.
The IHI Open School for Health Professions is an inter-professional educational community that gives students the skills to become change agents in health care improvement. Find online courses developed by world-renowned faculty; a network of students and educators with whom to connect; the opportunity to receive an IHI Open School Basic Certificate of Completion for online courses; and online resources on patient safety and quality improvement, including case studies, podcasts, videos, featured articles, tools, and glossaries. Explore the site and learn much more.
The Next Wave of Reform for Medical Education
March 2010. A free audio program from IHI. Featuring: Guest: Donald M. Berwick, MD, President and CEO, Institute for Healthcare Improvement; Lucian L. Leape, MD, Chair, Lucian Leape Institute at NPSF, and Adjunct Professor of Health Policy, Harvard School of Public Health; Dennis S. O’Leary, MD, President Emeritus, The Joint Commission; Diane C. Pinakiewicz, President, Lucian Leape Institute at NPSF.
What do today’s medical students need to know to safely and effectively take care of patients? This question isn’t really a new one. But in recent years, the focus on making sure students are prepared to practice in an environment dominated by advancements in medical treatment has been coupled with something equally urgent: the need for newly minted MDs to listen effectively, to engage in difficult conversations, to work as members of teams, and to practice with sharpened awareness and skills drawn from the very latest in improvement science and patient safety. Click here to listen to the audio recording and access the resources mentioned during the program.
The Buzz about Medical Training: It’s (Slowly) Changing
September 2010. A free audio program from IHI. Featuring: Lawrence Smith, MD, Dean, Hofstra/North Shore-LIJ School of Medicine; Chief Medical Officer, North Shore-LIJ Health System; John Rock, MD, Founding Dean, Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine at Florida International University; M. Brownell Anderson, Senior Director, Educational Affairs, Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC).
It’s not easy to turn medical training upside down to better fit the needs of today’s patients and health care system. Consider that the last major reform occurred some 100 years ago and many, many institutions and individuals would say they’ve done just fine with the basics and, besides, some of the new content areas like “humanism” would be nice to know, but they’re hardly essential. I’m going to be a surgeon, after all! Click here to listen to the audio recording and access the resources mentioned during the program.
Nursing’s New Roadmap: Education, the Workforce, and Health Care Quality
November 2010. A free audio program from IHI. Featuring: Donna Shalala, PhD, former US Secretary of Health and Human Services; President, University of Miami; Chair, Committee on the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Initiative on the Future of Nursing, Institute of Medicine; Linda Burnes Bolton, DrPH, RN, FAAN, Vice President for Nursing and Chief Nursing Officer, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center; Vice Chair, IOM Committee on the Future of Nursing; Patricia Benner, RN, PhD, FAAN, Senior Scholar, Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching; Author, Educating Nurses: A Call for Radical Transformation and From Novice to Expert: Excellence and Power in Nursing.
What’s it going to take for the health care system to take full advantage of the potential of nurses – and for nurses to realize their full potential? These twin questions are not new to the nursing profession, or to policy makers. Both groups have been wrestling for years to find the right levers to increase not just the ranks of RNs, but their skills and recognition as key members of health care teams. Although this has led to some successes and improvements, the solutions haven’t kept up with demands. Health care reform has only intensified the need to sharpen strategies, especially as nurses have the potential to play a critical role in creating a more patient-centered, integrated delivery system. Click here to listen to the audio recording and access the resources mentioned during the program.
