Our educational programs are widely known for producing superior clinical providers and outstanding scientists. When our MD program curricula was last revised in 2007, we were among the first in the country to shorten the pre-clinical period, introduce early clinical exposure, implement a research block, develop a comprehensive service-learning curriculum and to prioritize our students’ health and wellness. These accomplishments have laid the foundation for the next phase of medical education at Emory. Now, we must ensure our curriculum is keeping up with the demands on clinicians and scientists to solve the health challenges we face today and in the future.
With that in mind, the top priority of our education strategic plan is to reimagine and transform the curricula for all School of Medicine degree programs. The process will be highly interdisciplinary and include a diverse group of representatives from all our education programs - including our health professions programs and graduate medical education - and representatives from Emory Healthcare and our affiliated clinical institutions. We will leverage internal subject matter experts in education, technology and diversity, equity and inclusion, as well as partners such as Georgia Tech and broader community stakeholders.
The guiding principles and practices that have been instrumental in moving our institution toward eminence in research and clinical care must also extend to the student experience - including compassion, creativity, innovation, community engagement, data-driven problem-solving, a commitment to diversity and inclusion and a focus on building connections across disciplines. Our graduates will continue to be excellent clinicians and scientists, but in today’s environment they must also be able to lead change across health systems and communities.
Vision of Education Transformation
Our vision for education in the School of Medicine requires commitment to the following principles:
- Our foundational values are compassion, curiosity, humility and professionalism.
- We are bold and transformational, not incremental.
- We will develop excellent clinicians and scientists and adapt to changing demands.
- Emory students and trainees will effectively contribute as members of a highly diverse community in different roles (e.g., patients, advocates, team members and leaders).
- Emory learners will be inspired and inspiring as effective change agents for good.
Goals for Education Transformation
We identified the following goals to drive transformation of our educational curriculum:
- - Challenge the status quo
- - Foster forward-thinking innovators
- - Empower problem solving and stimulate student passions
- - Encourage entrepreneurship
- - Promote compassion and social justice
- - Empower students to act as change agents
- - Offer self-regulated learning
- - Engage with and be immersed in the Atlanta community
- - Commit to diversity, equity and inclusion
