SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. - As part of its ongoing effort to develop bold, innovative ways to improve physician training that can be implemented in other medical schools, the American Medical Association (AMA) is expanding upon its work to ensure future physicians are prepared to care for patients in the rapidly changing health care landscape. The AMA, along with Mayo Clinic School of Medicine, convened its 32 school Accelerating Change in Medical Education Consortium in Scottsdale, Ariz. this week to further the innovative efforts underway to reshape medical education across the country.
The inaugural class of medical students at Mayo Clinic School of Medicine's new Scottsdale campus will soon enter a new era of medical school thanks in part to the innovative curriculum models being developed by the AMA's Accelerating Change in Medical Education Consortium. As part of the grant it received in 2013 to work with the Consortium, Mayo created a new four-year longitudinal course with health system leaders to prepare students to practice within and lead patient-centered, community-oriented collaborative care teams to deliver high-value care. Medical students at its Rochester, Minn. campus are currently among the first in the nation to be studying high-value care--and students at its Scottsdale campus will soon begin classes--including the new Science of Health Care Delivery curriculum.
"Over the past three years, the AMA has been working with some of the nation's leading medical schools to create the medical school of the future--incorporating the newest technologies, health care reforms and scientific discoveries that continue to alter what physicians need to know to practice in the modern health care system," said Susan E. Skochelak, M.D., M.P.H., AMA Group Vice President for Medical Education. "We believe that the work we're doing together with these 32 medical schools to spread these innovations throughout all medical schools will directly impact the way that health care will soon be delivered to patients in Arizona and nationwide."
In addition to developing its new curriculum, Mayo worked with the Consortium to write a textbook to help physicians navigate the changing landscape of modern health systems, especially as the nation's health care system moves toward value-based care. The new "Health Systems Science" textbook was released last fall and is being used by medical schools across the country to ensure that future physicians learn how to deliver care that meets the needs of patients in modern health systems.
"Transforming medical education in our country is critical if we want future patients to receive the highest value and quality of care," says Michele Halyard, M.D., Mayo Clinic School of Medicine - Arizona Campus Dean. "Our work with the AMA Consortium brings the brightest minds together from medical schools around the country to build innovative solutions that can then be disseminated broadly to change medical education for the better."
Mayo Clinic School of Medicine is one of two Arizona-based medical schools that received an AMA grant to join the Consortium and develop an innovative curriculum that can be shared and implemented in medical schools across the country. Based in Mesa, Ariz, AT Still University School of Osteopathic Medicine received a grant in 2015 for pioneering a total-immersion-training model that embeds students in 12 urban and rural community health centers during their second, third and fourth years of medical school. This is an important innovation given that the majority of medical students still receive their training in hospital settings despite the fact that the majority of patients are now being cared for in out-patient settings to treat chronic conditions. Leaders from AT Still presented their new curriculum initiative during this week's Consortium meeting and furthered plans to disseminate it in other medical schools.
The AMA launched its Accelerating Change in Medical Education initiative in 2013--providing $11 million in grants to fund major innovations at 11 of the nation's medical schools, including Mayo Clinic School of Medicine. Together, these schools formed a Consortium that shares best practices with a goal of widely disseminating the new and innovative curricula being developed. The AMA expanded its Consortium in 2015 with grants to an additional 21 schools to develop new curricula that better align undergraduate medical education with the modern health care system. These innovative models are already supporting training for an estimated 19,000 medical students who will one day care for 33 million patients each year--including an estimated 660 medical students in Arizona who will one day care for 1.1 million patients each year.
The AMA will continue its efforts to accelerate change in medical education to ensure future physicians are equipped to quickly adapt to the changing health care landscape and provide value-based care as soon as they enter practice.
