Celebrating 40 years of Medical Teacher: As the “last man standing” I look back to help us look forward

Abstract

Introduction: In this reflective, descriptive, analytical, first-person piece, I offer recollections, data, and literature to help elucidate the emergence of medical education as a scholarly field, as part of celebrating Medical Teacher’s 40-year anniversary. I emphasize the impressive growth of the professional literature in medical education, and recognize that much remains to be done. Findings: Medical education as a domain for research and development has transitioned from being largely ignored during the first 20 of the past 60 years, through a slow growth phase, to rapid acceleration during the last 2 decades. By introducing the use and potential of “edumarkers,” we can see that medical education as a focus of scholarly pursuits was absent to minimal before recent decades, and we can identify trends and questions that deserve further exploration. Concern and recommendations: Only a small subset of the large population assigned to instruct health professions learners actually conducts and responds to medical education scholarship. I raise several questions as possible guides to the future for those of us who are devoted to enhancing educational processes and outcomes for learners who are expected to help prevent and manage the health challenges faced by the world’s people.