JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Amid the Covid-19 crisis, we have witnessed true physicianship as our frontline doctors apply clinical problem-solving to an illness without a textbook algorithm. Yet, for over a century, we have plowed ahead with a medical education system that prioritizes content delivery over problem-solving, passive learning over active. As resident trainees, we are acutely aware that memorizing content is not enough. But trainees develop problem-solving skills despite our education system, not because of it. We need a system designed to steer early learners from “know” to “know how.” For over a century, medical education leaders have advocated for such changes to the medical school structure. And for what may be the first time, we have a real chance to effect change. In response to the pandemic, medical educators have scrambled to conform curricula to social distancing mandates. The resulting online infrastructures are a rare chance for risk-averse medical institutions to finally modernize how we train our future physicians—starting by eliminating the traditional classroom lecture. Let’s make the most of our new infrastructure and curricular flexibility to facilitate the eventual rollout of flipped classrooms—a system designed to cultivate not only knowledge acquisition but problem-solving skills and creativity. These skills are more vital than ever for modern physicians.