Choice and Individuality: A New Approach to Medical School Curriculum

by Eli Adashi, Dean of Medicine and Biological Sciences

One of the most exciting parts of my assignment is effecting change. During my nine months as dean of medicine and biological sciences, I have had the opportunity not only to envision but to bring about changes that, I would like to hope, will benefit the Division of Biology and Medicine, its Medical School, and its life and health sciences programs. These changes have come in many forms, including the recruitment of new faculty, creation of new administrative leadership positions, renovation of outdated educational spaces, and planning for new buildings.

One significant area that we have begun to modify in depth and for the long term is the medical education curriculum. Today's physician must be scientifically and clinically enlightened, bioinformatics savvy, familiar with complementary healing traditions, committed to lifelong learning, patient- and service centered, and knowledgeable about the U.S. health care system. Today's physician must also serve as an agent for change in the health care quality and patient safety arenas.

It goes without saying that we hope Brown Medical School will produce this type of physician. To this end, we would like our students to learn in an environment that has both vibrancy and relevance. Moreover, we wish to impart to our students an education that is both innovative in content and compelling in delivery. That is why shortly after coming here I undertook, together with my colleagues, the overhaul of our medical education curriculum. (The "Doctoring" program, covered in this issue, is one innovation already in place.)

Brown Medical School, which came into being even as the University was approving its vaunted New Curriculum, is no stranger to curricular innovation. Not unlike the New, or Brown Curriculum, the Medical School's new curriculum will introduce the notions of choice and individuality - in a word, empowerment, the very essence of the Brown spirit. Students will be able to focus on their personal areas of interest early in their medical school career. Rather than following the same path as every other medical student around the country, our students will become full partners in their medical education. Our goal is to design an integrated, modular, contemporary, flexible curriculum that is innovative enough to merit the "Brown" stamp.

I look forward to seeing these changes in medical education come to life, reinvigorating and intensifying Brown Medical School's reputation as an innovator in medical education.