Has Technology Depersonalized the Art of Medical Teaching?

“Patients’ stories are what make the acquisition of medical knowledge compelling. They serve as the scaffolding on which facts and concepts can be organized and reinforced. A single case could serve as the lead-in to multiple medical school topics that otherwise might seem dry and routine.”

It’s time to bring the CPC back to the classroom and cajole or coerce the stay-at-home students to give it a try. They need to experience the thrill of witnessing the teaching live and absorbing its juicy, slow-cooked flavors rather than skimming through the leaner, less tasty recorded version on their electronic devices. After all, wouldn’t any 23-year-old prefer to see and hear Pearl Jam perform live rather than streaming the concert days later? Who said med school doesn’t rock!

Simon M. Helfgott, MD, is associate professor of medicine in the Division of Rheumatology, Immunology and Allergy at Harvard Medical School in Boston.

References

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3. Cannon WB. The case method of teaching systematic medicine. Boston Med Surg J. 1900;142:31–36.
4. Louis DN, Young RH, eds. Keen Minds to Explore the Dark Continents of Disease: A History of the Pathology Services at the Massachusetts General Hospital. Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School. Boston: 2011.
5. Silverman L. Millennial doctors may be more tech-savvy, but is that better? Morning Edition NPR. 2014 Nov 27. http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2014/11/27/366766639/millennial-doctors-may-be-more-tech-savvy-but-is-that-better.
6. Gaglani SM, Haynes MR. What can medical education learn from Facebook and Netflix? Ann Intern Med. 2014;160:640–641.
7. White T. Professors propose ‘lecture-less’ medical school classes. Stanford Medicine News Center. http://med.stanford.edu/news/all-news/2012/05/professors-propose-lecture-less-medical-school-classes.html.

Correction

In “Vaccines & Biologics” (The Rheumatologist, December 2014), an editing error made the order of vaccine administration and beginning treatment with rituximab unclear. Instead of saying, “Rituximab (RTX) should ideally be given before starting treatment,” the sentence should have stated, “Vaccines should ideally be given before starting treatment with Rituximab (RTX).” We regret the error.