AMA Slates $15M to Innovate Physician Residency

^{The AMA hopes to reimagine residency through $15 million in grants. Image has been altered. Licensed from ssstocker/Adobe Stock.}

The American Medical Association (AMA) has earmarked $15 million to improve medical residency training, in hopes of innovating the programs to better prepare physicians for a healthcare ecosystem that is undergoing significant technological, cultural and workforce changes.

The new initiative is called Reimagining Residency. The AMA will distribute the money over five years via grants, which will fund as many as eight residency innovations proposed by U.S. graduate medical education entities, health systems and specialty societies.

>> READ: The Job Market for Pharmacists Is Rapidly Changing, and It’s Not Because of Silicon Valley

“Applying what we’ve learned through our successful initiative to create the medical schools of the future, we’re embarking on a new effort to reinvent residency training to ensure our future physicians are able to make a seamless transition into residency and ensure they’re prepared for practice — while supporting their well-being and improving patient safety,” AMA CEO and Executive Vice President James L. Madara, M.D., said in a statement.

The AMA’s Reimagining Residency initiative aims to adjust residency training so that it responses to the needs of patients, communities and the healthcare business of today and tomorrow. Officials hope to close the disconnect between physician training and real-world skills required to succeed in hospitals.

Ideas spurred by the grants could tackle any number of issues, but they should focus on improving the transition from residency so that professional development continues afterward, promoting clinical readiness through curricula changes, and improving well-being in the classroom.

Over the past several years, with the proliferation of electronic medical records and other digital technologies, physicians have seen their jobs — and lives — change, and experts argue that medical education must catch up if healthcare is to solve physician burnout, workforce shortages and other problems.

“During this unprecedented time of rapid growth and technological change in the U.S. healthcare system, the AMA is continuing to support significant redesign and innovation in physician training that will help physicians adapt and grow at every stage of their career and ultimately improve the nation’s health,” Madara added.

Healthcare organizations must submit project proposals by Feb. 1, 2019. For more information, click here.

Get the best insights in healthcare analytics directly to your inbox.

Related

Wearables Spotlight Health Challenges Facing Medical Residents

Med Students Are Using Facebook Groups in a Big Way

Fixing Physician Burnout Is More than Just the Decent Thing to Do