Medical school curriculum in the digital age: perspectives of clinical educators and teachers
Abstract Background There is a need to reexamine Singapore’s medical school curricula in light of the increasing digitalization of healthcare. Notwithstanding Singapore’s digital competitiveness, there is a perceived gap in preparing its medical students for the digital age. Furthermore, limited res...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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BMC
2022-06-01
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| Series: | BMC Medical Education |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-022-03454-z |
| _version_ | 1818238527105662976 |
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| author | Humairah Zainal Xiaohui Xin Julian Thumboo Kok Yong Fong |
| author_facet | Humairah Zainal Xiaohui Xin Julian Thumboo Kok Yong Fong |
| author_sort | Humairah Zainal |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Background There is a need to reexamine Singapore’s medical school curricula in light of the increasing digitalization of healthcare. Notwithstanding Singapore’s digital competitiveness, there is a perceived gap in preparing its medical students for the digital age. Furthermore, limited research has evaluated the extent to which skills in using digital technologies should be taught to medical students in Asian medical schools to prepare them for future clinical practice- a gap that is filled by this study. Using Singapore as a case study, it explores the views of some local clinical educators and teachers towards the need to impart skills in digital technologies to medical students. It also offers recommendations on ways to balance the clinicians’ concerns about these technologies with the digital competencies needed for clinical practice. Methods Findings were drawn from individual interviews with 33 clinical educators and teachers from Singapore’s public and private healthcare sectors. They were recruited using purposive sampling. Data were interpreted using qualitative thematic analysis. Results Participants included vice deans of education from all three local medical schools and senior consultants from a wide variety of disciplines. Overall, they acknowledged two benefits of equipping students with skills in digital technologies including promoting the culture of innovation and improving work efficiency. However, they also highlighted four main concerns of imparting these skills: (i) erosion of basic clinical skills, (ii) neglect of a generalist approach to healthcare characterized by holistic management of patients, inter-professional collaboration, and commitment to breadth of practice within each specialty, (iii) rapid pace of technological advances, and (iv) de-personalisation by technology. Conclusions The findings show that medical students in Singapore would benefit from a curriculum that teaches them to use digital technologies alongside core clinical skills. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-12T12:43:04Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-a1522bca120b4adc8964e862b3868add |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1472-6920 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-12T12:43:04Z |
| publishDate | 2022-06-01 |
| publisher | BMC |
| record_format | Article |
| series | BMC Medical Education |
| spelling | doaj.art-a1522bca120b4adc8964e862b3868add2022-12-22T00:24:10ZengBMCBMC Medical Education1472-69202022-06-0122111010.1186/s12909-022-03454-zMedical school curriculum in the digital age: perspectives of clinical educators and teachersHumairah Zainal0Xiaohui Xin1Julian Thumboo2Kok Yong Fong3Health Services Research Unit, Singapore General HospitalHealth Services Research Unit, Singapore General HospitalHealth Services Research Unit, Singapore General HospitalDepartment of Rheumatology and Immunology, Singapore General HospitalAbstract Background There is a need to reexamine Singapore’s medical school curricula in light of the increasing digitalization of healthcare. Notwithstanding Singapore’s digital competitiveness, there is a perceived gap in preparing its medical students for the digital age. Furthermore, limited research has evaluated the extent to which skills in using digital technologies should be taught to medical students in Asian medical schools to prepare them for future clinical practice- a gap that is filled by this study. Using Singapore as a case study, it explores the views of some local clinical educators and teachers towards the need to impart skills in digital technologies to medical students. It also offers recommendations on ways to balance the clinicians’ concerns about these technologies with the digital competencies needed for clinical practice. Methods Findings were drawn from individual interviews with 33 clinical educators and teachers from Singapore’s public and private healthcare sectors. They were recruited using purposive sampling. Data were interpreted using qualitative thematic analysis. Results Participants included vice deans of education from all three local medical schools and senior consultants from a wide variety of disciplines. Overall, they acknowledged two benefits of equipping students with skills in digital technologies including promoting the culture of innovation and improving work efficiency. However, they also highlighted four main concerns of imparting these skills: (i) erosion of basic clinical skills, (ii) neglect of a generalist approach to healthcare characterized by holistic management of patients, inter-professional collaboration, and commitment to breadth of practice within each specialty, (iii) rapid pace of technological advances, and (iv) de-personalisation by technology. Conclusions The findings show that medical students in Singapore would benefit from a curriculum that teaches them to use digital technologies alongside core clinical skills.https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-022-03454-zClinical competenceTechnologyMedical educationCurriculumSingapore |
| spellingShingle | Humairah Zainal Xiaohui Xin Julian Thumboo Kok Yong Fong Medical school curriculum in the digital age: perspectives of clinical educators and teachers BMC Medical Education Clinical competence Technology Medical education Curriculum Singapore |
| title | Medical school curriculum in the digital age: perspectives of clinical educators and teachers |
| title_full | Medical school curriculum in the digital age: perspectives of clinical educators and teachers |
| title_fullStr | Medical school curriculum in the digital age: perspectives of clinical educators and teachers |
| title_full_unstemmed | Medical school curriculum in the digital age: perspectives of clinical educators and teachers |
| title_short | Medical school curriculum in the digital age: perspectives of clinical educators and teachers |
| title_sort | medical school curriculum in the digital age perspectives of clinical educators and teachers |
| topic | Clinical competence Technology Medical education Curriculum Singapore |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-022-03454-z |
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