Medical education research at the University of Washington School of Medicine: lessons from the past and potential for the future.

Faculty in the Department of Medical Education and Biomedical Informatics at the University of Washington School of Medicine received over $1.2 million in direct grant and contract support in 2003. In this case study, the authors provide some of the history and background of the evolution of the department's structure and its role in providing leadership in medical education research at the university, as well as regionally, nationally, and internationally. The authors offer their observations and reflections on what has helped and hindered the department's success, and end with some predictions on medical education research in the future. The University of Washington's five-state regional WWAMI educational program, establishing a single medical school for the states of Washington, Wyoming, Alaska, Montana, and Idaho, has been an important environmental influence on the direction of the department's educational and research activities. External support has helped the department to create the Northwest Consortium for Clinical Performance Assessment, the Center for Medical Education Research, the Teaching Scholars Program, and a Biomedical and Health Informatics graduate and fellowship training program, as well as a number of international programs.

Developing protocols for change in medical education : report of an informal consultation, Seattle, Washington, USA, 11-14 August 1992 / Charles Boelen ... [et al.]

Medical schools should respond to the health needs of society by reorienting the education of physicians to ensure that they possess the appropriate skills and are able to practise them. For medical education to become more relevant and efficient, changes must occur in curriculum content, learning processes and the relationship of medical schools with the health care system. This monograph offers guidelines for change in the form of steps for getting started, steps for development and early implementation, and steps for later adoption. A goal is set for each step, and specific tasks are suggested to help attain the goal; advice is offered on how to develop the tasks, and signs of progress are suggested. Also proposed are areas for future action, including action research, to improve the relevance and efficiency of medical education