And Here We Go Again
From the AMA Rounds:
As part of a series on the American Medical Association’s Accelerating Change in Medical Education initiative, Repertoire Magazine reports on the importance of preparing tomorrow’s physicians through non-traditional education subjects such as economics and biostatistics. Brown University’s Medical School Primary Care-Population Medicine program includes such “third science” coursework, formerly known as “health systems science.” One core focus of the curriculum is leadership, which is promoted through specific courses on leadership in healthcare. Brown Medical students can also focus on public health research in specific demographic groups such as incarcerated patients and members of the LGBT community.
Economics? Biostatistics? Leadership? Specific demographic groups like prisoners and the LGBT community?
Doesn’t Moore’s Law apply to medicine where we have double the amount of information to learn every few years? I cannot see how taking medical students away from the basics helps anyone other than making the school look good to others. Classic style over substance trick.
I’ve heard comments that new FP’s are no better than LELT’s in P-dog. Me? I took a 5 and a half
year post graduate course that started in surgery and took me 3 years to realize I couldn’t deal with it.
Plus I lost 47lbs. in weight my last year as my butt was worked off and I had no spouse or “significant other” to make sure I got something to eat. It was not depression or by choice although I did feel poorly when I was canned. Didn’t have time to eat! The knowledge gained was priceless though and I had a little bit better edge in homing in on a problem. If I couldn’t “get it” or if I got what the condition was but felt I wasn’t up to snuff to treat, I knew who to send ’em to!
I second the motion to teach them to treat patients. This 4 X 4 matrix “specificity, sensitivity ,
number to treat” BULLCRAP needs to be left with the epidemiologists, researchers and off of board recertifications . The insurance whores won’t let anyone use any of the new drugs on T.V. anyways so it sure as hell doesn’t matter for someone in the primary care trenches. Time to cut out useless stuff. LGBT? Cripes, go into a rural area and it’s not advisable to advertise this orientation for ones health. Don’t get me wrong, if one wants to work in that area fine, study it.
Just don’t cram it down peoples throats who don’t want it or feel the need to know it.
Whatever happened to teaching medical students how to take care of patients?
Oh, I guess they won’t be doing that in the future, just taking care of “populations” and entering data.