media fridays: Follow up to half-baked idea of 3 yr med school

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/24/education/nyu-and-others-offer-shorter-courses-through-medical-school.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

If you're a fan of sidenote, you know I love the idea of shortening med school. I've written about the possibility of a competency-based curriculum where you could move at your own pace, as well as the idea of a 3 yr MD. Please read if you're interested in some background. 

So I actually did some research instead of just coming up with my own BS ideas, and I learned that NYU just started a 3 yr accelerated MD program. That's what the NYT article is about. There are similar programs at Texas Tech, Mercer University, as well as one in the works at LSU and several other med schools across the country. 

we don't believe you
you need more people

This same track could easily be done at other schools like Duke/Emory/UVA/Baylor that have the 3rd year as a research year. Why not cut that year out? We all know most med students do not like research, and there's too much wasted time in medical education. Don't you feel like you're wasting your valuable time sitting in a classroom and learning things that you know you won't ever use in the clinic? Isn't it a waste of your time cramming for Step 1, when most of that material will be outdated by the time we become doctors? Doctors ALWAYS say the material you learn in med school is out of date. 

The LCME set minimum for an MD is 130 wks of education. NYU's new program has 135. So my question to you: would you want to see this at MUSC? 

sidenote - I'm meeting with Dr. Pisano to discuss changing the MD curriculum to 3 years. I want to have some data to talk about so I set up a surveymonkey. If you're a MUSC student that is a fan of sidenote, it'd be awesome if you could help me by taking it. 

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/5DVXK5J

see you on the other side,

from ken

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