Symposia

MD Connector Student Competition

MD Connector in partnership with Mayo Clinic Health Policy Center presented the three finalists for the 2009 National Competition on Medical and Health Care Education Reform.

More than 110 individuals and teams submitted entries to the competition that asked the question: "In order to create a health care workforce equipped to provide a high-value team approach to coordinated, patient-centered care, what is the most important change required of the health care education system?"

The first place entry, "Jumpstarting Medical Education," was written by Claire Fung, M.D., and Jessica Schumer, M.D., from Tulane University School of Medicine. The winning entry features "Jumpstart Pierre Part," a longitudinal, community-based project designed to inspire and support a culture of health and wellness.

Drs. Fung and Schumer recommended that traditional medical education be built upon a foundation of longitudinal primary care and community health. In addition, they suggested that medical students be exposed to topics such as public health, patient-centered care, prevention and advocacy/policy. Finally, they recommended reinforcement of this focus through a required, longitudinal community health project.

Dr. Fung said the goals of their proposal were to develop an appreciation of primary care and community health among all medical specialties, and to create a mechanism to sustain working physicians' involvement in the community.

"The best way to learn about medicine is to just get in there and do it," said Dr. Fung. "It is not good enough to do one community project in medical school."

The winning entry is featured on the Web site.

The second place entry was written by the inter-disciplinary team of Tamara Bavousett, R.N., M.S.N, C-P.N.P from Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center; Simon Curtis from the University of North Carolina, Gillings School of Global Public Health; Desiree de la Torre, M.P.H., from John Hopkins University, Carey Business School; Amelia Walling Maiga from Duke University, School of Medicine; and Valerie P. Pracilio from Thomas Jefferson University, Jefferson School of Population Health.

The second place entry focused on empowering students to practice safe, quality medical care; instituting provisions to practice reporting near misses; and having open discussions with other health care providers during clinical clerkships. To accomplish this, the authors proposed a 26-week inter-professional course entitled "Quality and Safety-Foundations and Applications." The two-semester course would integrate didactic education, team-based case reviews and practical real-world assignments.

"As health care and medical professionals, we work in teams, so we believe education must bring medical, nursing, pharmacy and other students together in the class focusing on quality," Bavousett said.

She added that working with a group of authors from various disciplines was a valuable process. "It forced us to work together as a team and focus on the common goal of continuous quality improvement and safety."

Paul Di Capua, M.D., M.B.A. from Yale University, won third placed for "Creating a Path to High Quality Health: The Implementation of a Quality Improvement Mechanism in the Education of Clinical Skills." Dr. Di Capua's entry explored using industry models to measure outcomes and focus on continuous improvement and safety.

The essay competition was open to health care profession students from accredited schools in the U.S. and Canada. Highlighting the symposium's focus, the competition was designed is to stimulate discussion and propose innovative changes in higher education.