Educators around the world are in the midst of re-evaluating how we educate Health Professionals. This March, the postgraduate phase of the Future of Medical Education in Canada project (FMEC-PG) was launched. This project presents an exciting vision for how we should be training the next generation of doctors and will impact the training of other health professionals. This report comes on the heals of other recent international reports such as the Lancet Global Commission, the Macy Foundation, and the white paper series from the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada (RCPSC). These reports are remarkably well aligned and challenge us to do things differently to meet the needs of our patients and society.
The key recommendations of the FMEC report are (slightly condensed):
- Ensure the right mix, distribution and number of physicians
- Cultivate social accountability
- Create positive and supportive learning environments
- Integrate competency-based education
- Ensure effective integration and transitions along the continuum
- Implement effective assessment systems
- Develop, support and recognize teachers
- Foster leadership development
- Establish effective governance
- Align accreditation standards
This is what residency training could look like if we implement the recommendations:
From the time you enter medical school you will know what kind of physicians are needed and where. Your training in residency will build seamlessly on medical school and will be tailored to your needs and abilities. It will be flexible, allowing you to easily adapt to evolving career interests and the needs of society. Rather than having to complete a set number of rotations you will know what skills you are expected to develop and will get regular feedback on your progress. Your teachers will be much more like coaches with the skills to challenge you. You will pass from one phase of training to another once you pass certain milestones not after a set amount of time. You will be spending your time learning in teams with other health professionals, much of it in settings where you might practice. You may still have the occasional exam but your progress will mostly be measured by what you do on a daily basis. As you progress your workday will look much more like what it would be like in practice such that your last day of residency and first day of work will be indistinguishable.
While this report focuses on the education of physicians, I think there is a lot here that is relevant to the education in all Health professions. What do you think?
Kevin
Dr. Kevin Imrie
Physician-in-Chief, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre
Vice-Chair, Education, Department of Medicine, University of Toronto
Professor of Medicine, University of Toronto
2075 Bayview Avenue, Room D474
Toronto, ON M4N 3M5
