Transitions across the medical education continuum

The continuum of medical education involves many transitions: entry to medical school; moving from medical school to residency; entering practice; and leaving practice for retirement. These can be challenging times and present significant opportunities for growth. The ChangeMedEd initiative’s unique partnership with medical schools and residency programs addresses these challenges by fostering development targeted to these transitions.

The Reimagining Residency grant program supports projects that address transitions through the application of coaching during the transition from medical school to residency as well as through changes to the residency application and match process.

In 2023, the American Medical Association placed a new level of strategic focus on four high-priority areas in medical education:

• Competency-based medical education (CBME)
• Transitions across the continuum
• Equity, diversity and belonging
• Precision education

As part of the initial stages of work in these areas, two AMA ChangeMedEd® Innovation Groundwork Teams will be selected in 2023. These teams will develop tools and strategies and pilot innovations at their sites in the areas of health systems science assessment to support the development of CBME and coaching for competency development to support better transitions across the continuum.

The coaching for competency Innovation Groundwork Team will work collaboratively to design tools and strategies, support pilots at institutions and share data across sites to advance coaching in medical education and better support learners at each step of their professional journey. These tools and strategies will be designed in such a way to foster equity, diversity and belonging among the learners.

Each Innovation Groundwork Team will consist of eight U.S. medical schools along with select AMA Reimagining Residency initiative projects and subject matter experts. These partners will collectively develop innovations in their subject areas and pilot them at their local institutions over the next two years.

Access the Oct. 30, 2023 webinar recording: Addressing Challenges in the Transition from Medical School to Residency: Taking Action on the UGRC Recommendations.

The AMA Accelerating Change in Medical Education Consortium in conjunction with experts at Wayne State University School of Medicine, the Spencer Fox Eccles School of Medicine at the University of Utah, and the University of Michigan Medical School published a coaching guide for learners and educators navigating each stage of medical training.

The Facilitating Effective Transitions Along the Medical Education Continuum handbook takes a deep dive into the needs of learners along the continuum of medical education—from the beginning of medical school through the final stage of residency.

An academic coach is a person assigned to facilitate learners in achieving their fullest potential.

Coaches evaluate the performance of medical students via review of objective assessments, assisting the student to identify needs and create a plan to address these, and helping the student to be accountable. Coaches help students improve their own self-monitoring, while fostering the idea that coaching will benefit them throughout their medical careers.

The AMA is a leader in academic coaching in medical education. Find more resources to help you as a coach or coachee.