New way to educate a medical student

We’re all familiar with the traditional way to become a physician: finish premed courses, attend medical school for four years, do a year of internship, three to four years of residency, and go on specialty training. That’s about 12 years of commuting, studying, taking exams, and training. Such a huge expense!

But with the advent of the internet and mentoring software through Skype and YouTube, universities can create a hybrid program for those living in rural areas.

With this hybrid system that I’m proposing, the cost will be reduced by more than half, with graduates becoming better physicians. Because as early as third-year high school, students will be given the chance to select a practicing physician-mentor in their nearest provincial or tertiary hospital with a residency program.

These selected high school students will follow the chosen physicians in their rounds at the hospital or their clinic every Saturday for at least two hours. The physician mentors would teach students how to make a diagnosis using the traditional tools of history taking, physical examination, request for laboratory and imaging tests, and follow-up.

As soon as the students get home or soon after dinner, they should hit YouTube or Google videos and study the patient they saw that day. These online videos are preapproved by the dean of the college. The students are expected to watch videos or read the pathology of the diseases, clinical presentation, physical examination, differential diagnosis, request blood tests, CT, MRI, and treatment.

The students should write up the patients they see with the mentor, and group them as to infections, cancer, metabolic disease, nutritional and psychological needs, injury, etc.

Students study medicine from third-year high school, attend four years of premed courses online, and two years online medical school. They will then enroll at a traditional medical school for clinical experience for two years, then finish residency training. Those who wish to be a specialist can go for a fellowship training for another two to four years.

Colleges and universities are expected to develop an online curriculum for hybrid students, who should pass the same exams as traditional medical students. The required exams can be taken online via Skype.

With no need to commute, hybrid medical education becomes less stressful for students because they’d have more time to study at home. They’d also learn faster because of the hands-on training.

With hundreds of YouTube and Google videos on how to take clinical history, do physical examination, request laboratory tests, and make a differential diagnosis, we can produce more physicians from rural areas at drastically reduced costs, and maybe have happier and better physicians than the traditional graduates.

LEONARDO LEONIDA
Former Assistant Clinical Professor in Pediatrics
Tufts University School of Medicine, Boston