Groups Promote “Key Competencies” in Training for Premed and Medical Students

Abstract

UNDERGRADUATE PREMEDICAL programs and medical schools should revamp their curricula to emphasize a set of “key competencies” that will help individuals become good physicians, according to a report issued by the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI). The report, written by a committee of 22 scientists, physicians, and educators, outlines principles to help guide school administrators in implementing the approach (http://services.aamc.org /publications/showfi le .cfm?fi le =version132.pdf&prd_id=262&prv_id =321&pdf_id=132). It also recommends several competencies that premedical and medical students should master to acquire quantitative skills and the ability to apply knowledge of such areas as biochemistry, molecular biology, genetics, and systems biology to medicine. These recommendations are being considered by another AAMC committee reviewing the Medical College Admission Test. The review and recommendations on changes to the test are expected in 2012. A competency-based approach would allow undergraduate institutions greater freedom to design innovative programs and would give students more flexibility to pursue a well-rounded liberal arts education, according to theauthorsof the AAMC and HHMI report. The need for such innovation in undergraduate biology education was outlined in a 2003 National Research Council report BIO2010: Transforming Undergraduate Education forFutureResearchBiologists (http://www .nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id =10497). The report noted that undergraduate biology education has changed little over the past 2 decades despite rapid changes brought about by advances in genetics, research tools, and digital technologies. In light of these changes, biology students need stronger quantitative skills, more knowledge of physics and chemistry, better communication skills, and the ability think in interdisciplinary terms, the report argued.