About this Research Topic
Medical education is rapidly changing in order to cope with the health needs of populations around the world. Tremendous socioeconomic, demographic, epidemiological, climatic, and scientific & technological shifts are both fuelling demand for improved health and health systems and creating an opportunity for medical education and public health to take the lead in achieving these improvements.
Medical education has nonetheless failed to keep pace with these challenges, largely because of traditional, didactic, fragmented, and static curricula which produce under-equipped graduates. Moreover, global expenditure for health professional education is inadequate, at under 2% of health expenditure worldwide. Quality assurance, accreditation, and educational practices are often weak and unevenly utilized in health professional schools worldwide. Health professionals have made huge contributions in improving population health over the past century, but to tackle the challenges of the 21st century we require needs-based medical education and a corresponding public health workforce.
Many countries throughout the world are attempting to address widening disparities in health and resources by combatting communicable and non-communicable diseases and adopting innovative, evidence-based models of medical education and public health to train healthcare professionals. The health workforce of the 21st century needs appropriate training to tackle and address these challenges effectively. There is an urgent need to develop new, more efficient, and more effective paradigms for medical and public health education. Health professional institutes need to play a central role in developing evidence-based curricula, organizing and promoting new programs, and incorporating new technology in academic environments that produce competent health professionals to tackle the health problems of the 21st century. Major stakeholders (such as medical schools and health professional institutes, medical universities, professional bodies, non-governmental organizations, and international donor agencies) need to take a proactive role to bring the necessary changes to the spheres of medical education and public health.
This Research Topic welcomes contributions on
• national and international experiments in medical education and policies to address public health needs and trends
• evidence-based educational models and change management strategies to translate reforms into reality
• the new role and responsibilities of health care professional students and workers in the 21st century.
Medical education has nonetheless failed to keep pace with these challenges, largely because of traditional, didactic, fragmented, and static curricula which produce under-equipped graduates. Moreover, global expenditure for health professional education is inadequate, at under 2% of health expenditure worldwide. Quality assurance, accreditation, and educational practices are often weak and unevenly utilized in health professional schools worldwide. Health professionals have made huge contributions in improving population health over the past century, but to tackle the challenges of the 21st century we require needs-based medical education and a corresponding public health workforce.
Many countries throughout the world are attempting to address widening disparities in health and resources by combatting communicable and non-communicable diseases and adopting innovative, evidence-based models of medical education and public health to train healthcare professionals. The health workforce of the 21st century needs appropriate training to tackle and address these challenges effectively. There is an urgent need to develop new, more efficient, and more effective paradigms for medical and public health education. Health professional institutes need to play a central role in developing evidence-based curricula, organizing and promoting new programs, and incorporating new technology in academic environments that produce competent health professionals to tackle the health problems of the 21st century. Major stakeholders (such as medical schools and health professional institutes, medical universities, professional bodies, non-governmental organizations, and international donor agencies) need to take a proactive role to bring the necessary changes to the spheres of medical education and public health.
This Research Topic welcomes contributions on
• national and international experiments in medical education and policies to address public health needs and trends
• evidence-based educational models and change management strategies to translate reforms into reality
• the new role and responsibilities of health care professional students and workers in the 21st century.
Keywords: medical education, public health, educational environment, trends and challenges, 21st century
Important Note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.
