Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Summit Calls for Greater Diversity and Patient Focus in Medical Education

A panel of participants in a medical education summit sponsored by the Josiah Macy, Jr. Foundation urged medical educators to take advantage of the coming expansion in the number of medical schools to promote diversity in the profession and to push for a greater focus on professionalism in the curriculum.

The panel emphasized the need to address the high medical school debt incurred by students, which may be keeping many competent individuals from considering medicine as a career path.

The panel also pushed for greater emphasis on patient care and safety, teamwork, problem-solving, and public health issues within the traditional medical school curriculum. By doing so, medical students will be more prepared for the needs of the community once they graduate and are practicing physicians.

The full findings of the panel are published in a report titled "Revisiting the Medical School Educational Mission at a Time of Expansion," by the Josiah Macy, Jr. Foundation.

The Josiah Macy, Jr. Foundation is a private organization that supports programs to improve the public health focus in medical education and increase the representation of minorities in the health profession.

Source: MedPage Today
http://www.medpagetoday.com/PublicHealthPolicy/HealthPolicy/12689

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