BOSTON, Mass. -- (Sept. 11, 2003) -- New requirements for physicians to demonstrate specific competencies, in addition to clinical knowledge, are creating new demands on medical schools and residency programs to teach and assess those competencies with an aim to improving health outcomes.

"Competency-based medical education puts new demands on the teacher and the learner," said Dr. Hershey Bell, former chief medical officer and vice president for medical education and quality, at the Hamot Medical Center, Erie, Penn., speaking at THCI's national conference for graduate medical educators.

"The challenge for us training the next generation of doctors is to help them become excellent diagnosticians who know how to use all available resources to improve health outcomes. It means we have to teach more in the same or less time, and it means residents have to learn more in less time, since they are now limited to 80 hours of work per week."

More than 200 health care leaders and medical educators from across the United States are attending the conference on best practices for clinician training, entitled "Competency Assessment: Forethought not Afterthought." Organized by Tufts Health Care Institute (THCI), it ran through Sept. 12.

Spurring the change in medical education training is a set of new requirements from the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME), which is responsible for the accreditation of all residency training programs within the U.S.

Among other directives, the ACGME requires that all training programs teach and demonstrate trainee competence in two new categories: systems-based practice and practice-based learning and improvement. In addition, guidelines from the American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS) on maintenance of certification also require assessment of the same set of general competencies.

"The question will not always be what test will help me diagnose a patient, but what practices and tools should I employ to treat patients that make the best use of all available resources," said Dr. Deborah E. Powell, MD, dean of the University of Minnesota Medical School.

"We must train new doctors to be excellent diagnosticians and clinicians in an increasingly resource-constrained healthcare environment."

This conference was funded in part by a Small Conference Grant from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ).

Also collaborating with THCI on this year's conference are the ACGME; American College of Physicians (ACP); Association of Family Practice Residency Directors; Association of Pediatric Program Directors; and the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), Center for Health Services Financing and Managed Care, US Department of Health and Human Services.

About Tufts Health Care Institute

Established in 1995, THCI (www.thci.org), an independent, not-for-profit, educational organization, is a leading source for educational and training programs on systems-based practice and care management for the health professions. THCI provides practical teaching materials, including online learning resources, assessment instruments, and curriculum guides, and regularly conducts national conferences and faculty development workshops. These activities support the training of clinicians to better meet the goals of professional groups, such as the ACGME and the ABMS, as well as recommendations from the Association of American Medical Colleges and the Institute of Medicine.

Contact:
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