F029 How should medical education be reinvented?

Next generations of doctors, who are supposed to embrace and use new digital health inventions, are trained in an outdated model with little room for creative engagement.

In the recent CNBC article Dr. Stephen Klasko, the president of Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia and CEO of Jefferson Health, critically remarked that medical school lack screening for qualities like critical thinking, entrepreneurship, and empathy in students.

One of the people passionate about the re-invention of medical education is Dr. Nana Bit-Avragim, a digital health transformer and medical sciences expert. Nana is an MD/PhD, who formerly worked as Director of Entrepreneurship and Innovation at Charité Foundation and was the Head of Digital Health and Life Sciences program at the German hub of Singularity University (an executive education organization based on NASA Research Park in Silicon Valley). In the 29th episode of Faces of digital health, Nana discusses how new cross-disciplinary models within academia in collaboration with industry and startups should be established to upgrade and rethink medical education.

Listen to the episode in iTunes, Podbean, Stitcher or on Youtube.

Design thinking and multidisciplinary approach

There are plenty of ways we can acquire knowledge today: books, articles, podcast, social media, forums, online debates, and new technologies such as simulation platforms and virtual reality trainings.

To actually understand and be inspired by new technologies, medical students should get basic training in big data analytics, coding, design, and communication, apart from core medical science background.

Nana is critical to the fact that at the moment, university programs often repress student’s creativity and focus on information memorization. Coming from a family of doctors, she remembers her parents telling her that doctors should be devoted to constant improvement through regularly seeing new patients and habitual reading of scientific articles.

She believes every doctor should aim for continuous education, as this is the only way one can keep track with scientific and technological advancements and consequently achieve the best possible patient care and outcomes.