dropping courses that officials identify as no longer relevant for 21st-century physicians. For example, some experts have ques- tioned the need for a year of general chemistry, a year of organic chemistry, and a year of physics for future physi- cians, Dr. Lieberman says. While it is un- likely those topics would be eliminated entirely from the curriculum, emphasis on them might be reduced, he says.
Better and faster Donna Ekal, PhD, says a group of UT institutions along the Texas-Mexico bor- der is working with UTMB and UTHSC Houston to build a better, faster, and scalable integrated medical education curriculum that other institutions can use. “We think we can really do all three of those things by looking at the medical education curriculum together,” said Dr. Ekal, partnership director for the Accel- erated Professional, Relevant, Integrated Medical Education (A-PRIME) project that includes UT El Paso, UT Brownsville, UT Pan American, UTMB, and UTHSC Houston. Dr. Ekal says the traditional approach to physician education involves “very little back and forth” between the un- dergraduate institution and the medical school. “So we’re looking at this together. How can we make this a six- or seven- year integrated process where we all work toward creating this educational pathway for our medical professionals?” The A-PRIME project will bring facul-
ty from the various institutions together to develop courses that meet the needs of both the undergraduate and medical degree programs, she says. For example, they are looking for
more efficient ways to deliver biochem- istry content, which students now take at both the undergraduate and medical school levels. Attempts to put medical education on a fast track are not new. Baylor Col- lege of Medicine offered a three-year program in the 1980s and 1990s, but of- ficials there say students found it hard to squeeze four years’ worth of classes into three. Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center also recently initiated
42 TEXAS MEDICINE November 2011
an accelerated three-year medical school program for students interested in family practice.
The Association of American Medical Colleges says some 20 medical schools across the country offer fast-track edu- cational programs. Dr. Henzi says one of the oldest is at the University of Missouri at Kansas City, where the undergraduate institution and medical school share a campus and offer a joint bachelor of science and medical degree program.
Where’s the humanity? TIME has drawn some criticism from those who believe a six- or seven-year training cycle would eliminate humani- ties and social sciences from a student’s education.
“It is certainly true that the core facts of a medical education can be learned in less than eight years. However, the six-year education of such a physician would leave gaping holes in that doc- tor’s understanding of the human condi- tion, and that lack of knowledge would significantly affect the way future pa- tients are treated and the way that doc- tor would practice medicine throughout her or his career,” Austin psychiatrist Stephen Sonnenberg, MD, wrote in an opinion article published in August by the Austin American-Statesman. But Dr. Lieberman says that concern is why UT is incorporating humanities, social science, and cultural competency in the nontraditional topics component of the new medical school curriculum. Dr. McConnell wholeheartedly sup- ports shortening the training period. He says he “didn’t find that I suffered any” in his medical career by not completing his fourth year at Rice.
Meanwhile, the Association of Ameri- can Medical Colleges (AAMC) supports the project. Henry Sondheimer, MD, AAMC senior director of academic af- fairs, sees real value in integrating the undergraduate and medical school cur- ricula, as well as the competency-based training approach. “Different people reach different lev- els of competency in different areas at different rates of speed,” he said. The assumption that all schools have been
under — that everyone progresses at the same rate of speed — is obviously not correct.” Dr. Sondheimer also says accelerating the pipeline for new physicians and cut- ting the amount of debt they graduate with also could be important outcomes of the TIME project. The median medical school debt now stands at approximately $160,000 he says. “If you can take a cohort of young people and get them through medical school with $90,000 or $100,000 or even $110,000 in debt, that’s substantial to them,” he said. Less debt could increase career op- tions for those new physicians, making it more likely some graduates would choose primary care specialties that tra- ditionally earn less money, he says. And, it might prompt some bright students to choose medicine who are now entering other carriers, he adds. “We have some pretty good data right now that there’s a group of very qualified students who are interested in medicine but are not applying to medi- cal school because of the debt issue,” Dr. Sondheimer said. “If we can see these types of programs, then hopefully that group of students will apply.”
Austin senator pushes new medical school
Could a new medical school be in Aus- tin’s future? Yes, if one state lawmaker gets his way. In September, State Sen. Kirk Watson
(D-Austin) announced a plan to estab- lish a medical school, a teaching hospital, a series of neighborhood clinics, and a research institute in Austin. Senator Watson also announced the
creation of an organizing committee to get the project started. That committee would include representatives of The University of Texas System, UT South- western Medical Center, UT Austin, the Seton Healthcare Family, St. David’s Healthcare, Austin Community Founda-
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