Category Archives: Medical Education

Mt. Sinai has abolished the MCAT requirement for half of its entering class under a program called “FlexMed.”  While Mt. Sinai has had a similar program in place for a number of years, titled the “Humanities and Medicine Early Acceptance … Continue reading

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What exactly are “academic competencies”?  In the last several years, there has been a change in the way the acquisition of knowledge is evaluated in medical education. While this started initially in graduate medical education (i.e. during residency training) it … Continue reading

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Should doctors of the future use social media and digital tools in their future practice? Should medical schools incorporate digital literacy into their curriculum? These are hot-button topics with no clear-cut answers. Medical school curricula are already so jam-packed with … Continue reading

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One of the most effective ways to teach medical students about the impact of disease on not only a patient but his or her family is to hear about the experience directly from those affected.  The “Survivors Teaching Students” program allows … Continue reading

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A few medical schools are trying a new model of medical education, allowing students to complete their education in three years. The impetus for this is obvious: it saves students thousands of dollars and produces doctors faster than the current … Continue reading

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Health care costs continue to spiral out of control in this country. Medical schools generally do a poor job of teaching med students about what care costs patients. In the 1970s, a study showed that teaching interns and residents about … Continue reading

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  More and more medical schools are refining their curricula to include teaching compassion and empathy to med students. This may be done in a variety of ways but is frequently accomplished by incorporating the humanities in medical education. Northwestern, … Continue reading

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  Medical simulations help medical students learn to provide good care. In the past, more simulations were done using “standardized” patients, actors who posed as ill individuals. More recently, however, high-tech mannequins are used in simulation centers and can teach … Continue reading

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Old-fashioned anatomy classes are a thing of the past in medical school. Using the latest technology, some schools are augmenting students’ traditional way of learning anatomy through dissecting cadavers by incorporating new techniques. Using a virtual human body medical students … Continue reading

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A medical student at Robert Wood Johnson has suggested several ways to improve medical education. He suggests that the lecture may be a thing of the past and he also believes that medical schools should cull resources and provide the … Continue reading

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