In 1910, an exposé called the Flexner Report was published, and led to upheaval in the medical field. Prior to that year, medical school was not standardized. There were no universal rules, and many different “medical schools” operated wildly different programs. After the Flexner Report was released, many of these schools were closed, curricula began to be standardized, and medical school began to become an institution based on science. More than 100 years later, many of the recommendations from the Flexner Report continue to steer medical education. Most students perform two years of classroom education, followed by two years of clinical rotations. Despite the similarities, medical education has changed a great deal in the past 50 years, and it continues to evolve. We spoke to doctors and educators and came up with this list of the most important changes med school has undergone in the past five decades. Ways Medical School Changed in the Past 50 Years More Competition In the year 1957, there were about 12 applicants for every position at medical school. By 2010, there were about 40 applicants for every position. If you’re hoping to get into med school, you’d better have great grades, a substantial list of extracurricular activities, some compelling admissions essays (an underrated aspect of all admissions decisions!), and do very well on the MCAT. (If you’re looking for help on that last one, Brainscape offers a powerful set of adaptiveMCAT flashcards that can speed up your preparation.) Greater Focus on Communication and Teamwork Communication and teamwork have a greater role in medicine than ever before. Doctors are much more likely to be specialists than they were in the past, and the generally poor and declining health of the public in the United States means dealing with complex illnesses and issues. This generally requires a team of doctors across specializations to treat patients best. Teamwork can be hard, and one consequence of this is medical errors. In fact, preventable deaths due to medical error are now the third-leading cause of death in the United States. While some of this is doubtlessly due to the aging population and the efficacy of medical methods that can help people (barely) pull through illnesses that would have killed them in the past, it points to a disturbing issue: lack of clarity in medical records. Better communication and teamwork can help minimize these risks, thus raising its importance during medical school. The Flipped Classroom More and more medical schools are adopting the “flipped classroom” model, a system in which students study textbooks at home and class time is dedicated to questions and hands-on work. It’s a solid model that can have great results, especially in advanced subjects like medical sciences. Technology The blossoming of medical technology is playing a greater role than ever in the education of doctors. For example, anatomy coursework is now supplemented with digital scan results and even holograms. Some courses are entirely online, and video learning is playing a greater role than ever in training. With high-definition telemedicine, medical students can now learn about surgeries and procedures from thousands of miles away. The Only Constant is Change Medical science is changing so rapidly due to advances in genetics, technology, biotech, pharmaceuticals, and many more fields that many educators believe modern medical school has to constantly adapt — and to teach students to similarly adapt throughout the course of their careers. Unlike in the past, students cannot simply learn a certain protocol or procedure and practice it for decades. The pace of advancements is such that methods can change from year to year. An increasingly important part of medical school is simply teaching students foundational knowledge, as well as how to stay abreast of changes in the field during their entire careers. source
