COVID-19 can catalyze the modernization of medical education

Abstract

Amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) crisis, we have witnessed true physicianship as our frontline doctors apply clinical problem-solving to an illness without a textbook algorithm. Yet, for over a century, medical education in the United States has plowed ahead with a system that prioritizes content delivery over problem-solving. As resident trainees, we are acutely aware that memorizing content is not enough. We need a preclinical system designed to steer early learners from “know” to “know how.” Education leaders have long advocated for such changes to the medical school structure. For what may be the first time, we have a real chance to effect change. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, medical educators have scrambled to conform curricula to social distancing mandates. The resulting online infrastructures are a rare chance for risk-averse medical institutions to modernize how we train our future physicians—starting by eliminating the traditional classroom lecture. Institutions should capitalize on new digital infrastructures and curricular flexibility to facilitate the eventual rollout of flipped classrooms—a system designed to cultivate not only knowledge acquisition but problem-solving skills and creativity. These skills are more vital than ever for modern physicians.