Article
A Tea-Steeping or i-Doc Model for Medical Education?*
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Published: | September 26, 2011 |
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Outline
Text
One hundred years after Abraham Flexner released his report Medical Education in the United States and Canada, the spirit of reform is alive again. Reports in the United States and Canada have called for significant changes to medical education that will allow doctors to adapt to complex environments, work in teams, and meet a wide range of social needs. These reports call for clear educational outcomes but also for a flexible, individualized approach to learning. Whether or not change will result has much to do with the alignment between what is proposed and the nature of current societal discourses about how medical education should be conducted. Currently, two powerful and competing models of competence development are operating at odds with one another. The traditional one is time-based (a “tea-steeping” model, in which the student “steeps” in an educational program for a historically determined fixed time period to become a successful practitioner). This model directs attention to processes such as admission and curriculum design. The newer one is outcomes-based (an “i-Doc” model, a name suggested by the Apple i-Pod that infers that medical schools and residencies, like factories, can produce highly desirable products adapted to user needs and desires). This model focuses more on the functional capabilities of the end product (the graduate student, resident, or practicing physician). This presentation explores the implications of both time-based and outcomes-based models for medical education reform and proposes an integration of their best features.
Learning Objectives
Upon completion of this session, participants will have:
- 1.
- Learned about two different paradigms for medical education: time-based and outcomes-based development of competence
- 2.
- Considered the strengths and weaknesses of each
- 3.
- Considered the likelihood of a major paradigm shift in medical education
Narrative Form
Upon completion of the session, participants will be able to identify two different paradigms for medical education: Time-based and outcomes-based development of competence and considered the strengths and weaknesses of each; considered the likelihood of a major paradigm shift in medical education.
References
- 1.
- Hodges BD. A tea-stepping or i-Doc model for medical educaiton? Acad Med. 2010;85(9 Suppl):34-44. DOI: dx.doi.org/10.1097/ACM.0b013e3181f12f32