About the Institute for Improving Medical Education

Washington, D.C., October 2, 2006 — To better prepare the next generation of doctors to treat patients with chronic illness, the AAMC (Association of American Medical Colleges) Institute for Improving Medical Education has awarded 10 new grants to U.S. medical schools through its "Enhancing Education for Chronic Illness Care" initiative. The grants will be used to redesign medical school curricula and residency training programs to incorporate a contemporary approach to understanding and treating chronic diseases.

"More than 100 million Americans are affected by chronic illness, and that number is likely to increase as our population ages," said AAMC President Darrell G. Kirch, M.D. "As medical educators, we need to re-think how we teach tomorrow's doctors about chronic illness so they can provide the best care for their future patients. This initiative moves us closer to that goal."

Chronic illness care education for medical students and residents has traditionally been limited to the treatment of hospital inpatients for acute disease episodes. The AAMC believes that the medical education community should shift the focus of this training to the long-term disease management of patients in ambulatory settings (doctors' offices and clinics)—the environments where new physicians will most often practice. Ten medical school grantees are now in the planning stages to implement this new approach:

• University of Arizona College of Medicine
• David Geffen School of Medicine at University of California, Los Angeles
• University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine
• University of Cincinnati College of Medicine
• Florida State University College of Medicine
• Jefferson Medical College of Thomas Jefferson University
• University of Miami Leonard M. Miller School of Medicine
• University of Minnesota Medical School
• Mount Sinai School of Medicine
• Vanderbilt University School of Medicine

Nine of the schools will make changes to both their undergraduate medical education program and to their internal medicine or family medicine residency programs. (Florida State University College of Medicine is the exception; the school does not offer residency programs).

Each medical school received two-year $100,000 grants at the start of this academic year to revamp their undergraduate medical education programs—the first year is reserved for planning and the second year for implementation of the curricular changes. Participating schools are required to distribute chronic illness education throughout all four years of the curriculum. Medical students must observe team approaches to chronic illness care, establish long-term relationships with patients throughout their medical school experience, and understand the day-to-day challenges that chronically ill patients face as they navigate through the healthcare system. Funding for residency program reforms has been issued to the nine institutions as a $75,000 one-year only planning grant.

"What's novel about this program is that it will allow a medical student to follow the same patient through overnight hospital stays, follow-up office visits and specialty referrals," said Carol A. Aschenbrener, M.D., AAMC senior vice president for medical education. "This will provide students with a more comprehensive education in treating chronic illness."

Four of the medical schools in the Enhancing Education for Chronic Illness Care initiative are also actively participating in another chronic care improvement program sponsored by the AAMC's Institute for Improving Clinical Care. That program works to improve the delivery of care to chronically ill patients at academic medical centers.

The Institute for Improving Medical Education was established in 2002 to emphasize the AAMC's ongoing commitment, primarily through the Division of Medical Education, to catalyze and encourage innovation in medical education that will better align the knowledge, skills, and attitudes of practicing physicians with the needs and expectations of the public. The AAMC's Enhancing Education for Chronic Illness Care initiative is supported, in part, by the Josiah Macy, Jr. Foundation.

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The Association of American Medical Colleges is a not-for-profit association representing all 129 accredited U.S. and 17 accredited Canadian medical schools; nearly 400 major teaching hospitals and health systems, including 68 Department of Veterans Affairs medical centers; and 94 academic and scientific societies. Through these institutions and organizations, the AAMC represents 109,000 faculty members, 67,000 medical students, and 104,000 resident physicians. Additional information about the AAMC and U.S. medical schools and teaching hospitals is available at www.aamc.org/newsroom.

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