What Is a 21st-Century Doctor? Rethinking the Significance of the Medical Degree

Abstract

The undergraduate medical degree, leading to a license to practice, has traditionally been the defining professional milestone of the physician. Developments in health care and medical education and training, however, have changed the significance of the medical degree in the continuum of education toward clinical practice. The author discusses six questions that should lead us to rethink the current status and significance of the medical degree and, consequently, that of the physician. These questions include the quest for core knowledge and competence of the doctor, the place of the degree in the education continuum, the increasing length of training, the sharing of health care tasks with other professionals, and the nature of professional identity in a multitasking world. The author concludes by examining ways to redefine what it means to be a "medical doctor."

The Case for Use of Entrustable Professional Activities in Undergraduate Medical Education

“…In reality, medical school completion is just one point along the continuum of physician training. 17 Medical school prepares and provides learners with generic knowledge and skills to support the continued development of more advanced and additional specialty-specific knowledge and skills in GME. Learners develop progressive proficiency along the continuum from UME to GME training.…”

Connecting undergraduate and postgraduate medical education through an elective EPA-based transitional year in acute care: an early project report

“…Because the DTY aims to facilitate the transition to residency, clinical tasks that starting residents must perform are suitable learning objectives [ 1 ], [ 9 ], [ 10 ]. Using tasks as learning objectives offers structure and clarity in the chaotic educational context of clinical practice [ 11 ].…”

“…It fosters learning by creating commitment and motivation [ 11 ]. Learning objectives, pertaining to clinical tasks, may be formulated as Entrustable Professional Activities [ 1 ], [ 9 ], [ 10 ]. An Entrustable Professional Activity (EPA) is a separately executable unit of clinical work, which can be performed with decreasing levels of supervision, and which may be entrusted to an individual that has been deliberately declared competent to execute that task without direct supervision [ 12 ].…”

“…The goal of undergraduate medical training is to deliver doctors who are ready to practice within a postgraduate training programme [ 1 ].…”

Medical students' preparation for the transition to postgraduate training through final year elective rotations

“…The continuum of undergraduate and postgraduate medical education is becoming more important, while the importance of the medical degree decreases [ 1 ]. Therefore, it is increasingly relevant to understand the dynamics of orientation and preparation for residency during medical school.…”