GUEST POST from Arlen Meyers
Almost every day, a new technology emerges that challenges doctors and physician entrepreneurs to perfect them. Examples include digital health, blockchain, AI, VR/AR, ICOs, population health analytics, remote sensing and many more. It is unlikely, however, that most doctors will learn any of this in medical school since digital health courses are not required nor are demonstrated competencies at graduation.
A recent report concluded that ,over time, these technologies will have such a significant affect on healthcare that proper training and educational programs will be a necessity.
“The curricula must be multidisciplinary and engage AI developers, implementers, health care system leadership, frontline clinical teams, ethicists, humanists, patients, and caregivers,” the authors wrote. “Each group brings much-needed perspectives, requirements, and expertise.”
The skills gap is not unique to medicine, and, in fact, with low levels of unemployment and many unskilled workers sitting on the sidelines, finding skilled workers is the biggest challenge for employers regardless of the industry.
The reasons are many. The solutions will require a skills gap ecosystem that includes companies, the public sector, the education establishment, service providers, non-profits and students and parents. The model similarly applies to graduate level education since they are not immune to the challenges of finding jobs where they can use their skills, particularly bioscience graduate students expecting find a job in academic research. The ecosystem should have a central nervous system that provides:
- A one stop shop to find the resources students need
- Teaching the hidden curriculum
- Networks and mentors
- Experiential learning outside the campus and apprenticeships
- Equity, diversity and inclusion
- Money, tuition assistance and cheaper student loans with more favorable terms
- Alternative business models and pathways to stackable credentials
- Reengineering care
- New rules and payment schemes
- Faculty development help
Companies are getting impatient with higher ed and either offering their own courses or working with universities to outsource teaching the information and skills faster and cheaper.
Biomedical education is not keeping up with a rapidly changing world. The result is a skills gap that places patients and the economy at risk. Plugging the gap is too big a job for any one piece to solve. Rather, we need a skills gap ecosystem to fill the slots.
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