A Path That Needs More Attention in Medical School: Challenges Facing Future Clinician Educators

Abstract

To the Editor: What is a clinician–educator? Most medical students are uninformed about education as a career path within medicine. Formally, a clinician–educator actively applies and practices educational theory in medical environments.1 Unfortunately, there is still a lack of awareness about this track, in part due to the high value traditional academic systems appear to place on research and clinical productivity.2 This perception begins early on, when medical students are exposed to anatomy, biochemistry, pathophysiology, and their clinical correlations, with the curricula placing little emphasis on the educational component of academic medicine. Since medical education is a key element of preparing the next generation of physicians, we believe there should be considerable attention devoted toward this career pathway, starting in the preclinical years. As students become immersed in organ-based learning focused on delivering passing scores on licensing examinations, they have little awareness regarding careers in medical education. This disconnect is palpable even to students passionate about the role of teaching as a critical component of future careers. Further complicating the situation is that, although some strategies exist to promote successful careers as clinician educators, many formative educator role models for preclinical students have had to rely only on informal advice from mentors. Faculty development programs may be available, but are not standardized; it can take years for aspiring educators to learn the most effective skills for teaching their students. Our institution (Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine) has a medical education student group that advises medical students on career pathways in clinical education, as well as curriculum review panels that students can serve on. Although this is a good start, we believe structural changes, including formal training programs, need to be established to provide more opportunities and incentives for students, residents, and faculty to pursue careers as clinician–educators. These must include mentorship and scholarship opportunities to help accelerate the career trajectory of clinician–educators within the academic environment. From the student perspective, high-quality medical education requires committed and well-trained faculty. We believe further investment in medical education is needed to ensure the vitality and continued growth of our profession. Shahzeb HassanSecond-year medical student, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, Illinois.Paavani ReddySecond-year medical student, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, Illinois; ORCID: http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1480-5259.Kristy Wolniak, MD, PhDAssistant professor of pathology, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, Illinois; [email protected]