Prerequisite vs. Competencies?

[Quaestor]

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I might be a bit late, but I just read a proposal to make medical schools focus less on prerequisite coursework and more on "competencies." Can someone elaborate on what "competencies" even means and how they intend to measure it? It sounds like placing more emphasis on MCAT scores than completing X classes in undergrad, which I kinda like. As it is, pre-med prerequisites are like a minor and a half -- I'm investing more time in my pre-med classes than my two majors combined.

 

[Osteoth]

Right now this isn't the system, so honestly I wouldn't worry about it until the "proposal" passes.

 

[Ismet]

Harvard does something like that, but there are still course requirements. http://hms.harvard.edu/departments/admissions/applying/requirements-admission

 

[Goro]

Competencies are a big thing in medical school education. They are a set of tasks that you need to master by the time you graduate. For LCME (and DO schools), they are:
Medical Knowledge
Patient Care
Interpersonal and Communication Skills
Professionalism
Practice-Based Learning and Improvement
Systems-Based Practice

Note that the stuff you know (like what nerve enervates the diaphragm?) is only 1/6th of what you need to be competent at. The rest are the "doing" of Medicine.

These have been around for at least 15 years, BTW.

Now do you see why ECs that get you in smelling distance of patients are so important?

I might be a bit late, but I just read a proposal to make medical schools focus less on prerequisite coursework and more on "competencies." Can someone elaborate on what "competencies" even means and how they intend to measure it? It sounds like placing more emphasis on MCAT scores than completing X classes in undergrad, which I kinda like. As it is, pre-med prerequisites are like a minor and a half -- I'm investing more time in my pre-med classes than my two majors combined.

 

[PlasticBag]

I think Einstein does it, too, i remember filling something similar on the secondary. And i think Rush doesn't have set pre-req

 

[Ismet]

Competencies are a big thing in medical school education. They are a set of tasks that you need to master by the time you graduate. For LCME (and DO schools), they are:
Medical Knowledge
Patient Care
Interpersonal and Communication Skills
Professionalism
Practice-Based Learning and Improvement
Systems-Based Practice

Note that the stuff you know (like what nerve enervates the diaphragm?) is only 1/6th of what you need to be competent at. The rest are the "doing" of Medicine.

These have been around for at least 15 years, BTW.

Now do you see why ECs that get you in smelling distance of patients are so important?

I think they're referring to the "competencies" for med school admission ("you need to be competent in these biology categories") rather than "you need x classes." Harvard's pre-med pre-reqs are kind of like this. You still need a full year of bio, but you can really take anything as long as you're competent in x, y, and z. I presume it's to avoid the issue with people taking APs and testing out of the intro classes, that upper levels will suffice for the competencies.