A retrospective and prospective look at medical education in the United States: trends shaping anatomical sciences education

During the last decade of the 20th century and the first decade of the 21st c entury, curricular reform has been a popular theme. In fact, reform on the current scale has not occurred since the early 1900s, when A braham F lexner released his landmark report ‘ M edical E ducation in the U nited S tates and C anada’. His report, suggesting major changes in how physicians were educated, became the norm and few changes occurred until the last quarter of the 20th century. During this period increased demands on medical school curriculums due to the explosion of knowledge in biomedical sciences and the pressure to add additional clinical experiences increased the momentum for curriculum reform. In 1984 an A ssociation of A merican M edical C olleges ( AAMC ) report, ‘ P hysicians for the T wenty‐ F irst C entury: The R eport of the P anel on the G eneral P rofessional E ducation of the P hysician ( GPEP ) and C ollege P reparation for M edicine’, discussed many items related to reforming medical education including the value of integration, increased use of active learning formats, more self‐directed learning, improved communication skills and increased problem‐solving activities. This was followed by a report released in 1993 entitled ‘ E ducating M edical S tudents: A ssessing C hange in M edical E ducation – The R oad to I mplementation’ ( ACME ‐ TRI ), which identified educational problems by surveying medical school deans, suggested ways to deal with these issues and presented a plan of action. Recently, the C arnegie F oundation for the A dvancement of T eaching released ‘ E ducation P hysicians: A C all for R eform of M edical S chool and R esidency’ with additional suggestions. At this point the question that might be asked is – Where is all this going and how is it going to affect anatomy education?