The future of health professions education.

The need for a fit-for-purpose curriculum with a closer alignment of health professions education with society's needs was addressed at the International Conference on the Future of Health Professions Education held in Miami in November 2022. Issues discussed at the Conference were equity, competency-based education, technology enhanced learning, interprofessional education, lifelong learning, international collaborations, and the changing role of students.

Medical Teacher's equity diversity inclusion policy.

Medical Teacher is a leading international journal in health professions education. The Journal recognizes its responsibility to publish papers that reflect the breadth of topics that meet the needs of its readers around the globe including contributions from countries underrepresented in the health professions education arena. This paper sets out the Journal's policy with regard to Equity Diversity Inclusion (EDI) and the steps to be taken to implement the policy in practice.

Building excellence into medical and health professional education programs.

There is a need for schools that train medical and health professionals to reflect on whether their education program is aligned to current demands and challenges. Such a reflection is not a luxury but a necessity, as achieving minimum standards is not enough. A school should aim for excellence and incorporate best practice in their education program. The ASPIRE-to-Excellence award panels have elaborated on examples of excellence in a number of themes in medical and health professional education. These are presented in a series of articles to be published in Medical Teacher in 2024 and 2025. The frameworks and critical elements described in these articles may be used by institutions as a first step in an evaluation of their program. The frameworks and elements described and examples can be used as a resource for schools and other healthcare learning organizations to consider as they endeavor to improve their education program.

Managing the tension: From innovation to application in health professions education.

Innovations in education are essential for solving problems and introducing new ways of thinking. However, implementation of these innovations must take several factors into consideration, including the context, the environment, the stakeholders, the technology needed, the cost, the pace of implementation, appropriateness, and available resources. When these factors are not balanced and considered, tensions arise. This paper describes tensions in five major educational domains, namely curriculum, instruction, assessment, accreditation/regulation, and faculty development. For each of these domains, the typical problems are described, and solutions are presented to manage the tension.

Ten key features of the future medical school-not an impossible dream.

Significant developments in medical education are necessary if medical schools are to respond to the pressures from advances in medicine, changes in health care delivery, and patient and public expectations. This article describes 10 key features of the medical school of the future: the move from the ivory tower to the real world, from just-in-case learning to just-in-time learning, from the basic science clinical divide to full integration, from undervalued teaching and the teacher to recognition of their importance, from the student as a client to the student as partner, from a mystery tour to a mapped journey, from standard uniform practice to an adaptive curriculum, from a failure to exploit learning technology to its effective and creative use, from assessment of learning to assessment for learning, and from working in isolation to greater collaboration. A move in the directions specified is necessary and possible. With some of the changes proposed already happening, it is not an impossible dream.

Forty years of medical education through the eyes of Medical Teacher: From chrysalis to butterfly.

To mark the 40th Anniversary of Medical Teacher, issues this year will document changes in medical education that have taken place over the past 40 years in undergraduate, postgraduate and continuing education with regard to curriculum themes and approaches, teaching and learning methods, assessment techniques and management issues. Trends such as adaptive learning will be highlighted and one issue will look at the medical school of the future. An analysis of papers published in the journal has identified four general trends in medical education - increased collaboration, greater international interest, student engagement with the education process and a move to a more evidence-informed approach to medical education. These changes over the years have been dramatic.

A fresh approach to publishing and reviewing papers in health professions education.

MedEdPublish has been launched as a repository of ideas and an e-library for papers relating to education in the health professions that have not previously been published. In line with the move to open access publication, the e-library provides an easy-to-search, open access resource that addresses both a mismatch between papers meriting publication and the space available in established journals, and problems with the traditional approach to peer reviewing by an editorial board and two or three selected reviewers. It is argued that with advances in technology, the time is right to look at a fresh approach to quality control that involves the wider education community.

Be FAIR to students: four principles that lead to more effective learning.

A teacher is a professional not a technician. An understanding of some basic principles about learning can inform the teacher or trainer in their day-to-day practice as a teacher or a trainer. The FAIR principles are: provide feedback to the student, engage the student in active learning, individualise the learning to the personal needs of the student and make the learning relevant. Application of the principles can lead to more effective learning - the poor teacher can become a good teacher and the good teacher an excellent teacher.

Looking back to the future: a message for a new generation of medical educators.

OBJECTIVE: Many changes in medical education have occurred during the author's 50-year career in the field. The aim of this paper is to describe 10 lessons worth recording for others engaged in the training of health care professionals. THREE CAREER PHASES: The first phase in the author's career occurred during 1960-1972 in Glasgow, where an interest in medical education developed alongside an engagement in clinical medicine and research into iodine metabolism. The second phase took place during 1972-2002 in Dundee, where, after working for a period as a clinician, the author made a full-time commitment to medical education. The third phase, from 2002 to the present, has provided the opportunity to explore new horizons in medical education. CONCLUSIONS: The following lessons have been learned. (i) People are important as role models and collaborators. (ii) Innovation in medical education is a complex process and research findings can easily be misinterpreted. (iii) Nudges, interventions that encourage rather than mandate change, are valuable. (iv) Students are important players in planning, delivering and evaluating a curriculum. Each student has different needs and aspirations. They are the 'digital natives'. (v) Offer stakeholders practical solutions to problems that can be implemented. (vi) There is always something to learn outside one's own practice. Go to a conference or read a journal in a related field. (vii) Time spent recording one's work and publishing reports based on it is rewarding. (viii) Learn from history. We don't need to keep reinventing the wheel. (ix) Obtain independent funding. (x) Finally, and most importantly, have fun. Working in medical education can be exciting, fulfilling and hugely enjoyable.