Giving Compass' Take:

• Michael Pitt, a professor of pediatrics at the University of Minnesota School of Medicine, provides insight as to how medical education can adapt to address future challenges in medicine.

• One way medical education can change is through behavior. Pitt says that clinicians can be more empathetic to gain patient trust and promote healthier habits. How can medical professionals put more focus on demeanor and attitude to help patients have better health outcomes? 

• Read about NYU's free tuition for medical students. 

The rate of medical knowledge creation has continued to increase and accelerate over the years to a dizzying speed.

In 1950, the estimated amount of time it would take to double medical knowledge was 50 years. By 1960 it was 10 years. Now the projected time it will take to double medical knowledge in 2020 will be under three months.

“One way to think about this is a medical student who starts medical school this year will have as many of 20 doublings of medical knowledge before they graduate,” said Michael Pitt a professor of pediatrics at the University of Minnesota School of Medicine during a speech at the Manova Summit in Minneapolis.

In response, Pitt posits that medical education needs to fundamentally change to meet the growing healthcare needs of the country.

This means the reexamination of the frameworks on which clinical decisions are being made to combat innate biases and using real-time feedback to shape and correct diagnostic mistakes. Another type of necessary behavior change, according to Pitt, is the integration of empathy as a core part of clinical practice, instead of a distraction to effective and objective data gathering. He cited a study from University of Wisconsin researchers that demonstrated providers using at least one empathy phrase during patient visits for the common cold saw symptoms less than one day longer than others.

Another major point highlighted by Pitt was the need to diversify the pool of providers, which has been shown to improve outcomes for patients. The healthcare industry is still struggling to increase the number of underrepresented minorities in medicine.

Read the full article about medical education by Kevin Truong at MedCity News