Action Plan 1: Strengthen the Medical Education Continuum for Transformed Health Care and Learning Environments

Through this action plan, the AAMC builds on its history of fostering innovation in competency-based medical education (CBME).

We seek to better align educational outcomes across medical schools and their clinical partners and across the medical education continuum to improve patient-level and system-level outcomes.

This action plan has four major goals:

1. Learners are educated in a more inclusive, anti-racist environment that equitably supports the progress of all learners
2. The medical education community implements CBME in new and emerging areas in diverse educational settings.
3. U.S. medical schools move toward uniform adoption of a set of foundational competencies for undergraduate medical education that aligns across the medical education continuum.
4. The AAMC is the medical education home for the community, offering curricular resources, professional development and collaborative partnerships in advancing CBME across the continuum.

• Our study of the 2021 AAMC Medical School Graduation Questionnaire was published in Journal of Surgical Education in April 2023. The study analyzed the Graduation Questionnaire results to assess the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on in-person and virtual away rotations by specialty. The study results suggest various surgical specialties were among the early innovators of virtual rotations. (Supports Goal 1)
• Our study of graduating medical students’ perceptions of the COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on their medical school experiences and preparation for careers as physicians has been published in May 2024 in Academic Medicine. This national study highlights what students perceive as valuable fundamental elements of medical education and student support and how innovation can improve long-standing practices in optimizing student learning, engagement, and well-being. (Supports Goal l)
• Through our Telehealth Challenge Grant Program: Responding to the Teaching and Assessment Needs of Academic Medicine, is in year two of the grant and continuing the development of tools and resources to train and access competence in telehealth. The AAMC Telehealth Challenge Grant Program was created with the goal of developing, disseminating, and integrating competency-based interprofessional education in telehealth as well as creating a cross-continuum community of educators actively working to cultivate telehealth in medical student, resident, and continuing education programs. Learn more about this program and the effort of each of our grant recipients. (Supports Goal 2)
• The AAMC (Association of American Medical Colleges), the American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine (AACOM), and the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) are nearing completion of the UME Foundational Competencies. The report is being written now and a communications plan is underway for their release later in the year. (Supports Goal 3)
• The AAMC released this PDF data snapshot entitled, “Medical School Transition to Residency (TTR) Courses: Recent Trends and Current Status” that showed that the prevalence of required TTR courses steadily increased among U.S. MD-granting schools over the past six years, with differences among medical schools regarding the balance of general and specialty-specific course focus and the curricular content of these courses.(Supports Goal 4)
• Our study entitled, “Piloting a National Curricular Resource for the Transition to Surgical Residency”, describing characteristics of participating schools and their students has been published in the March 2024 issue of Journal of Surgical Education. (Supports Goal 4)

• In collaboration with AAMC Action Plan 4, our recently completed study on US medical school graduates’ placement in GME is in press. (Supports Goal 1)
• The final iteration of proposed competencies and subcompetencies will be included in a report that will outline their development and intended uses. A learning community for CBME In UME is being planned for kick off at the Learn, Serve, Lead annual AAMC meeting in Atlanta GA . (Supports Goal 3)

• Submit materials for inclusion in the new “Constructing an Equitable Learning Environment” web-based compendium, a collection of timely and diverse materials that support an anti-racist, inclusive, and equity-centered learning environment. Successful submissions will include content aligned with the competency domains described in the AAMC’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Competencies Across the Learning Continuum report. Resources will be reviewed on a rolling basis, and the call will remain open until the compendium addresses all the competency domains. (Supports Goal 1).
• The AAMC, AACOM and ACGME are continuing to collect community input to help inform their recommendations for undergraduate medical education competencies. Please take a moment to share your perspective. (Supports Goal 3)
• Make the AAMC your medical education home! Explore what the AAMC has to offer, from tailored learning events, trainings, and professional development conferences to programs, initiatives, data, and scholarship on key and emerging topics. Get involved, advance your career, and help move the field of medical education forward. (Supports Goal 4).
• The landscape of AI is quickly evolving. Advances in this technology have led to new opportunities across academic medicine as well as questions and challenges around best practices and ethical use. The AAMC has several upcoming opportunities for you to connect with your peers, share your experiences, and learn from experts, including an AI in academic medicine webinar series and virtual community (registration required). Also available is a curated collection with events, scholarly resources, news articles, podcast episodes, and more to help you stay up to date on the latest work happening across academic medicine. Learn about these resources and more happening at the AAMC. (Supports Goal 4).
• The following session is on the program at the NRMP Transition to Residency Conference: Creating Foundational Competencies for UME: Mission, Purpose, and Partnership, October 4, 2024. (Supports Goal 3).
• The TTR educators Collaborative Symposium (TTR Symposium 2024 — TTR Course Educators (ttreducators.com) on October 3, 2024 includes the following featured Plenary : FeedBACK for Improving Resident Readiness for GME: State of a National Educational Program. (Supports Goal 3).
• If you are going to attend the Learn, Serve, Lead annual AAMC meeting in Atlanta GA in November 2024, please consider joining us at the following sessions and events throughout the meeting:
  • “Telehealth Across the Continuum: A Discussion on Telehealth in Policy, Medical Education and Practice.” Saturday, November 9, 2024: 1:15 – 2:30 PM: (Supports Goal 2).
  • “Now What? Advancing Competency Based Medical Education” Sunday, November 10, 2024: 1:15 – 2:30 PM (Supports Goal 3).
  • Navigating the UME-GME Transition presentation: “Program Directors’ Assessments of Postgraduate Year (PGY)-1 Residents’ Readiness for Graduate Medical Education (Supports Goal 3). Tuesday, November 12 2024: 10:15 – 11:30 AM/ (Supports Goal 3).
  • Posters-Up and Wine-Down Reception. Enjoy time catching up with colleagues, get to know peers working to tackle similar challenges, and learn about the latest innovations and research happening across academic medicine at this open poster reception. There will also be the opportunity to explore the AAMC’s work and interact with staff leading efforts around holistic admissions, AI, CBME, medical school operations, the transition to residency, and more. Join us Monday, November 11, 2024 from 6:00 PM – 7:30 PM. (Supports Goal 4)
  • Your Home for Medical Education Kiosk. Stop by our kiosk located near the bookstore to learn more about the AAMC and how you can get involved, advance in your career, and help move the field of medical education forward. Throughout the meeting, stop by to meet AAMC staff and leaders from across the community. Check the meeting app for the complete schedule. (Supports Goal 4)