The Interfolio Blog

Did you know that the American medical school system as we know it is only 100 years old? 

This means that the cookie-cutter method so many of you are familiar with has only been in place since educator Abraham Flexner published his (in)famous report in 1910 that harshly criticized the med school standards of his time and recommended changes that are the backbone of the US med school system today. 

The four required years of university education before applying? That was him. The four years or so of med school after that? That was him too. And the up to four years of residency after all that? That was also him.

Now a century later, the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching has commissioned a more up-to-date analysis and InsideHigherEd.com has published an important article reviewing the study.

The new report, entitled Educating Physicians: A Call for Reform of Medical School and Residency, proposes something radically different to the current med school system, and for that matter, US higher education in general: the individualized program.

Here are three things to know about the new recommendations:

1. The length of one’s study in med school should not be based on the standardized 4-year program. Instead, a student's background knowledge, experience, talents and professional interests should be the basis for forming the combination of courses he'll be taking and the length of his curriculum, as well as the length of residency after that. 
2. Rather than leave the clinical experiences for last, there should be a constant symmetry between knowledge-building and experience-building, meaning that med students should be working alongside professionals from year one, building knowledge as they learn hands-on; something that can also shorten the residency period.
3. Med students will not simply learn to be physicians; rather they will be formed into "physician-citizens" by being taught ethics and bedside manner alongside standard medical education.

These sound like pretty big changes. I'm sure to many of you, the prospect of shortening med school time sounds quite promising, and to others, the process may seem a little too flexible for comfort. What do you think? Leave your comments below.

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