The need for medical education reform: genomics and the changing nature of health information
-
* Corresponding author: Amy L McGuire amcguire@bcm.edu
1 Undergraduate Medical Education, Baylor College of Medicine, One Baylor Plaza, Houston, Texas 77030, USA
2 Center for Medical Ethics and Health Policy, Baylor College of Medicine, One Baylor Plaza, Houston, Texas 77030, USA
Genome Medicine 2010, 2:18 doi:10.1186/gm139
Published: 17 March 2010Abstract
No course in genetics can prepare the practicing physician to interpret whole-genome data. We argue that genetics is a microcosm of the changing dynamics of the practice of medicine. It illustrates the perfect storm of exponential increases in raw data with undetermined clinical relevance, ease of access to large amounts of data via the internet and shifting expectations of the doctor-patient relationship and the very mechanisms of health care delivery. Educational reform is needed across the continuum of medical education, from the student to the faculty training them, and requires a shift in focus from factual knowledge to data management and interpretation.