Review article: leading the future: guiding two predominant paradigm shifts in medical education through scholarship

The purpose of this article is to consolidate some of the key concepts about scholarship in education related to the specialty of anesthesiology. We frame the discussion on two paradigm shifts in medical education, i.e., competency-based education and lifelong learning, and the scholarly approaches to lead these paradigm shifts in anesthesiology.

Conventional medical education is being challenged by a shift from time-based education to competency-based education. This potential shift will also create a continuous need to foster a culture of lifelong learning in contrast with the traditional compartmentalized model of undergraduate, postgraduate, and continuing medical education. The specialty of anesthesia has the capacity to lead these changes by enhancing scholarship in education locally and nationally. The promotion of scholarship in education necessitates the creation of infrastructure and accountability frameworks to show return on investment. High-quality scholarship in medical education requires a solid rationale and, ultimately, a demonstrable benefit to patient care.

Accountability of lifelong learning to established competency frameworks seems inevitable. Anesthesiology is one of only a few specialties that can truly protect faculty from clinical responsibilities in favour of scholarship pursuits. With appropriate support for scholarship in education, anesthesiologists have an opportunity to lead these paradigm shifts.