A decade of reports calling for change in medical education: what do they say?

To review the recommendations of 15 U.S. and Canadian reports, published in the last decade, that call for significant change in medical education.

The author selected for review 15 reports published over the last ten years that emphasize general recommendations for change in medical education in the United States and Canada and that represent a broad spectrum of sources.

The purpose, methods, and content of each report are briefly described. The reports were selected because they address comprehensive change in medical education and have been recently published. The reports are categorized based on their inclusion of eight major themes: integrating the educational continuum, need for evaluation and research, new methods of financing, importance of leadership, emphasis on social accountability, use of new technology in education and medical practice, alignment with changes in the health care delivery system, and future directions in the health care workforce. The author provides an overview and synthesis of these reports and reveals a number of common themes to help medical educators implement changes in medical education in the next decade and beyond.

There is remarkable congruence in the recommendations of the 15 reports. The author proposes that the problems facing contemporary medical education have been thoroughly identified and that it is time to set forth on meaningful new paths; many hopeful possibilities exist.