Special Feature

Transforming medical education part of new AMA strategic plan

In response to dramatic changes in the U.S. health care system, the AMA will work to strategically reshape physician education in the United States.

The AMA's new strategic direction, announced at the recent AMA House of Delegates Annual Meeting in Chicago, has three focus areas:

• Improving Health Outcomes
  The AMA will work to make medicine – and health – better. This requires that AMA efforts to improve quality go beyond process measurement to focus on improving actual health outcomes.

• Accelerating Change in Medical Education
  In keeping with our Initiative to Transform Medical Education, the AMA will work to strategically shape undergraduate medical education in the United States.

• Improving Physician Satisfaction – Shaping Delivery and Payment Reform
The goal is help physicians navigate the transformation in delivery and payment by identifying and promoting models that demonstrate high quality care and value while preserving professional satisfaction and practice sustainability for physicians.

"In keeping with the AMA's role as a co-sponsor of the Liaison Committee on Medical Education and its historic leadership in physician education, the AMA possesses the standing and responsibility to drive change that better aligns education outcomes with the needs of the changing health care system," says Susan Skochelak, MD, MPH, vice president of medical education at the AMA. "Our work will synergize with and accelerate the efforts already underway by other medical and health care organizations."

The AMA will work to accelerate change in medical education by focusing on the following:

• Partnerships that create, implement and evaluate new methods of medical student education
• Focused attention on flexibility, individualized and social learning, achievement of competencies, and professionalism in physician education
• Working to provide exemplary methods to achieve patient safety, performance improvement and patient centered-team care in medical training.

In the next five years, the AMA will accomplish the following:

• Define criteria for focused change in medical student education, using a structured review process that includes the Council on Medical Education and new and established partners
• Establish partnerships with select medical schools and health care systems to  develop innovations supporting new, flexible and outcomes-based education across the continuum

At the same time, the AMA will continue its work across the continuum of physician education, in alignment with reducing the barriers between the various stages of training.

For example, the AMA will continue working closely with the ACGME and its residency committees on refining GME standards and aggressively supporting federal and state-level advocacy that addresses GME and workforce issues.

Finally, recognizing the life-long learning needs of physicians, residents and students, the AMA will facilitate electronic access to AMA and JAMA CME while developing additional learning tools that support students, residents and practicing physicians.