Technological developments, corporate interests and an aging population have transformed healthcare over the last several years creating new demands and challenges for incoming physicians.
Three physicians recently joined Becker’s to discuss the things they believe need to change about medical school to better prepare physicians to meet the healthcare needs of 2026 and beyond.
Editor’s note: Responses have been lightly edited for clarity and length.
Question: What is one thing you think needs to change about medical school training to meet today’s healthcare demands?
Kenneth Elconcin, MD. Orthopedic Surgeon (Los Angeles): One thing to change in medical school training to meet today’s healthcare demands would be training in how to write and relate verbally with others. Too many doctors do not know how to communicate. Writing skills are not taught in school these days. A physician has to communicate with individuals on many levels both verbally and written. Just about every physician knows how to use a computer but they are not able to transmit their thoughts and ideas well. Most doctors spent their college years with courses in science, not English.
Virginia Schmidt, MD. Family Medicine Physician (Chicago): I think the last two years of medical school — the clinical years — need to be completely revamped. Too much power is given to the attending physician’s opinions on the ward rotations and they can show a lot of favoritism that is unrelated to the performance of the student. I remember one attending gave superior marks to a med student because she brought in donuts every Friday. I got high marks in my surgery rotation even though all I did was watch the surgeries — never once asked to do any suturing or scrubbing in. It’s not enough to rotate through the various areas and hope that the diseases you see are a good representation of what you need to know for that rotation. I think they need to incorporate more structure into the [third/fourth] year of medical school.
For example, there can be three days in the hospital on rotation and two days of classroom instruction where cases are presented and you have to figure out how you would manage that — similar to business school where some classes were case-based. In business school I took a class called Cases in Financial Management and each week they presented the case of a company in an educational way.
Joe Sherman, MD. Pediatrician and Physician Coach (Seattle): Simply look at what kind of work culture future graduates will enter. Increasing numbers of employed physicians with decreased autonomy. Future physicians need to have some training in the business of healthcare, how to navigate business environments, and how to deal with decreased autonomy in the workplace.
