Dr. Richard Reznick is the opening plenary speaker for #ICRE2017 this October 19-21 in Quebec City. He recently told us about changes in medical education, the importance of learner empowerment, and where he sees the future of MedEd heading.
From professor, educator, to Dean, how have you seen medical education evolve over the years?
Richard Reznick (RR): Probably the most important change has been learner empowerment. For the most part, medical educators are working with adult learners and need to take a particular approach to interacting with this audience. The most fundamental principle in this is to empower the student to take responsibility of their own learning, and the teacher role changes from transmitter of information to guide, facilitator and coach.
A second major change has been the adoption and celebration of medical education as both an art and a science, and a speciality on its own. When I embarked on my journey in medical education, it was an oddity and an experiment, while in the last 35 years, it’s become mainstream, accepted and celebrated.
The way we assess our learners has also greatly changed over the years. If we were to dial back the clock 40 or 50 years, our tests were very knowledge focused and often very arbitrary. If we fast forward to 2017, our tests are now more comprehensive and much more performance based.
I’ll leave you with one more thought, while there are of course, many more; both interprofessional education and simulation training are now staples to our medical education programs. Years ago, these did not exist, while today, they are a fundamental part of how we train and evaluate our students.
Where do you see the future of medical education going?
RR: I see the future of medical education shifting from a self-perpetuating agenda coming from the profession, to a derivation based on societal needs. In terms of shaping the future, I see the driving force of the agenda being social accountability. This will be a massive shift that will impact how we do things, how we educate and how we prepare our future doctors.
The future of medical education will also see our health professionals much more involved in shaping the system that they work in, as opposed to being passive participants.
The last big picture shift I see is a focus on the culture of wellness in medical education. Instead of strategies for wellness being reactive to the stresses and strains of our workplace, I see us trying to proactively create a more balanced approach to wellness.
What is your proudest accomplishment in a leadership role?
RR: If I had to just pick one thing, it would be through providing an example of how one can establish a successful career using medical education as the backbone. I’ve been involved in the training of around 30 fellows in medical education, many of them who have gone onto very successful careers. I’ve tried to passionately promote the notion that scholarship in medical education is a bona fide academic focus and is one that can and should be promoted.
I guess of all the things that I’ve done, if I’ve played a small role in more people thinking that this is a bona fide career focus, I feel that’s time well spent.
What is your advice for ensuring we shape the best doctors for our future?
RR: Let me frame this answer through the vision of Queen’s medical school and our faculty. Our vision is that we “ask questions, seek answers, advance care and inspire change.” If I were to be giving advice to either students or faculty, it would be that they need to promote and foster the desire to seek answers through scholarship and research, and practising medicine in an evidence-based way.
In all that we do, whether it is research or education, we have to have a singular focus in mind; that focus is what we need to make the health of our population and each individual as optimized as possible, and we remember every single day that that’s why we are here.
Finally, we must take the most creative minds, the best and brightest getting into our medical school programs, and instill in them this intense desire to embrace, celebrate and discover change.
Dr. Reznick will deliver his plenary address at ICRE on Thursday, October 19, 2017.
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