Today’s blog covers advocacy from a variety of angles, and
reflects my thoughts over what I learned from the #AAMC13 meeting over the last 24 hours.
Advocacy within Social Media
The University of Utah is taking a huge presence at this
meeting with its Innovations theme. At a
booth set up in the exhibit hall, they were interviewing folks coming through
to provide brief reflections. I was able
to spend a few moments reflecting on what the impact that social media can have
on medicine and medical education. What
a timely opportunity to focus on what so many great folks have done parlaying
the importance of vaccines for communities, as well as providing truthful,
succinct messages to society. See the
audio interview here.
Advocacy within Education
Daphne Koller, who started Coursera, spoke to the
participants on the power of what MOOCs (Massive Online Open Courses) can do,
not just for the schools or professors who host them, but for society as
well. I was moved by the stories from
student learners from sub-saharan Africa and others who became more educated
from their use of Coursera. The potential ramifications of the betterment of the entire planet: wow!
Advocacy within Continuing Education
I attended a workshop on CME in which Don Moore described a
tool that integrates the IHI Model for Improvement with PI CME (Performance
Improvement CME) to help clinicians better understand the pieces needed to make
improvement science and lifelong learning relevant to their day-to-day
practice. Some in the community have
questioned how Maintenance of Certification actually “helps” them provide
better care for their patients. This session helped clarify the potential benefits of the Maintenance of Certification program. We also heard
from Mary Turco and George Blike about a concept at Dartmouth called “Value
Grand Rounds”, which itself showcases improvements in the health system, but
also itself has the opportunity for members of a team to see the fruits of
their labor, and also drives them to want to get better.
Advocacy for Research
At the Town Hall meeting, Dr. Darrell Kirch answered
questions from the audience about a variety of topics. One comment hit home: the public is “scientifically
illiterate”. A new initiative by the
AAMC entitled “Research Means Hope” focuses on how the public can better
understand why research funding is so desparately needed, because the end
product of research should be improved patient livelihood.
Advocacy for Graduate Medical Education
Also at the Town Hall meeting, a question was raised about
the “rate limiting step” in producing new physicians in the United States—namely,
the shortage of residency positions for graduates of medical schools, who
themselves have increased enrollment by 25-30% over the past few years. Atul Grover discussed bills in Congress that
aim to address the “GME crisis”: HR 1180, HR 1201, and Senate 577. We hope that these campaigns can be
successful in providing the resources for the physicians of the future, hoping
to achieve the ultimate goal of improved patient outcomes in our communities.
Advocacy for Me
I was honored to have met Dr. Lewis First as well, the
editor of the journal Pediatrics, and a giant in the world of pediatrics. His own career embodies the best of academic
medicine, and the best of how physicians can make a difference.
A hearty thanks go out to the AAMC on a fantastic meeting,
with so many opportunities for reflection, for networking, and for the
opportunity to improve the education of future physicians and leaders in health
care.
