Academic medicine : journal of the Association of American Medical Colleges
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Entrustable professional activities (EPAs) have emerged as a meaningful framework for achieving competency-based medical education (CBME). However, little is known about how to adapt EPAs to large-scale, multispecialty, system-wide implementations. ⋯ The resulting design is a unique configuration and use of EPAs, called Royal College EPAs. Others looking to implement EPAs for large-scale health professions education systems may want to consider this design approach.
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The ongoing novel Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has created many threats as well as opportunities for the career development of physicians-in-training. Institutional responses to the demand for patient care reduced the time many residents have to pursue clinical electives, scholarship projects, and other experiences meant to clarify and advance their personal and professional goals. Moreover, many academic medical centers experienced profound fiscal losses that require thoughtful revisions to budgets and curricula. ⋯ To promote development of effective work relationships and community, the authors recommend appointment of a faculty champion for career advancement, scholarship showcases, attendance at virtual journal clubs, and networking through social media outlets. These recommendations for supporting career advancement may apply to early career faculty development as well as undergraduate and postgraduate medical education beyond the pandemic era. Outcomes studies will be needed to evaluate the impact of these recommendations.
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During the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, the first author, then a fourth-year student at Harvard Medical School, was enrolled in a One Health clinical experience at Zoo New England where he was introduced to a transdisciplinary approach to integrate human, animal, and ecosystem health. Seeing the vast impact of the pandemic and knowing its roots as a zoonotic disease, he realized this approach was critical to his medical education and for preparation against future novel infectious diseases. Zoonotic diseases have been emerging into human populations with increasing frequency, leading to public health emergencies such as Ebola, avian influenza, and SARS. ⋯ Preventing future pandemics will require a transdisciplinary One Health approach, and physicians should be prepared to participate in these discussions while advocating for One Health initiatives for the benefit of their current and future patients. Integration of One Health education into medical school curricula will also prepare future physicians for other complex and urgently important health issues such as climate change, antimicrobial resistance, and the impact of biodiversity loss. As the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic persist, education in One Health must become a priority; it is essential to break down the conventional disciplinary silos of human medicine, veterinary medicine, environmental health, public health, and the social sciences, so that future health crises can be prevented and mitigated collaboratively.