Realizing the vision of the Lancet Commission on Education of Health Professionals for the 21st Century: Transforming medical education through the Accelerating Change in Medical Education Consortium

Abstract

In the last two decades, prompted by the anticipated arrival of the 21st Century and on the centenary of the publication of the Flexner Report, many in medical education called for change to address the expanding chasm between the requirements of the health care system and the educational systems producing the health care workforce. Calls were uniform. Curricular content was missing. There was a mismatch in where people trained and where they were needed to practice, legacy approaches to pedagogical methods that needed to be challenged, an imbalance in diversity of trainees, and a lack of research on educational outcomes, resulting in a workforce that was described as ill-equipped to provide health care in the current and future environment. The Lancet Commission on Education of Health Professionals for the 21st Century published a widely acclaimed report in 2010 that called for a complete and authoritative re-examination of health professional education. This paper describes the innovations of the American Medical Association Accelerating Change in Medical Education Consortium schools as they relate to the recommendations of the Lancet Commission. We outline the successes, challenges, and lessons learned in working to deeply reform medical education.

Keywords:

• Medical education
• Flexner report
• medical education reform
• health care workforce

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank their home institutions, fellow members of the American Medical Association’s (AMA) Accelerating Change in Medical Education Consortium, and the AMA for their support of innovation.

The AMA Supplement is sponsored and supported by The American Medical Association.

Disclosure statement

The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the article.

Disclaimer

The opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect American Medical Association policy.

Additional information

Funding

This work was funded in part by the American Medical Association.

Notes on contributors

Susan E. Skochelak

Susan E. Skochelak, MD, MPH, Medical Education Outcomes American Medical Association Chicago, IL, USA.

Kimberly D. Lomis

Kimberly D. Lomis, MD, Medical Education Outcomes American Medical Association Chicago, IL, USA.

John S. Andrews

John S. Andrews, MD, Medical Education Outcomes American Medical Association Chicago, IL, USA.

Maya M. Hammoud

Maya M. Hammoud, MD, MBA, Medical Education Outcomes American Medical Association Chicago, IL, USA.

George C. Mejicano

George C. Mejicano, MD, MS, School of Medicine Oregon Health and Science University Portland, OR, USA.

Julie Byerley

Julie Byerley, MD, MPH, School of Medicine University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, NC, USA.