At the 2006 EPC retreat a recommendation was made to convene a Future of Medical Education Subcommittee.  The EPC recognized that the basic and clinical sciences of medicine and the delivery of medical care are changing rapidly.  The EPC also recognized that while the US spends vastly more for health care per capital than any other nation, it also lags behind other industrialized nations in health outcomes.  Thus, it is necessary for the EPC to consider future trends in medicine and how these trends impact our decisions regarding curricular change.  The committee will include EPC members and other SIU faculty members. 

CHARGE:

The subcommittee will convene in September 2006 and will provide quarterly reports to the EPC.  The EPC will determine later when the final report is due, and expects that committee work will continue through 2007.   The number and content of the meetings are at the discretion of the chair.  The committee’s work should be wide-ranging and creative.  Here are a few potential issues and questions that the EPC identified for the subcommittee:

1. There is an explosion on new information at the biomolecular level, in new medical and information technologies, and in population healthcare outcomes.  How do future trends in these diverse areas affect the future of medical education at SIU?
2. What do new physicians need to know?  What should be added to the curriculum?
3. Is there anything in our curriculum that should receive less attention or less time?
4. Are there new ways of thinking and new ways of knowing that would improve medical education?
5. How can SIU SOM effect change in medical education and medical care to improve health outcomes for the patients and populations we serve?
6. What continuous improvement methodologies and strategies for lifetime professional development are needed?
7. Consider an invitation to futurists to come to SIU as visiting professors to stimulate the discussion of emerging issues.

MEMBERS:

• David Rogers, MD, Chair

• John Bradley, MD, MMM

• Sharon Hull, MD, MPH

• Linda Herrold, MS

• Susan Hingle, MD

• Becky Hoffman, MD, MPH

• Laurie Lopp, MD

• Erica Nelson, MD

• Pritesh Patel, Class of 2008

• Nicole Roberts, PhD

• Michael Schneider, MD

• Don Torry, PhD

• Steve Verhulst, PhD

• Chris Wohltmann, MD

MEETING NOTES: