On outcomes and humility.

On outcomes and humility.

Wear Delese

Academic medicine : journal of the Association of American Medical Colleges

2008

2008-07

The competency movement in medical education asserts itself in every corner of students' experiences from matriculation through residency. Such a focus on making sure trainees achieve desired levels of skills, knowledge, and technique is highly desired by the patients they will be servicing, but educators' need to turn nearly every dimension of medical education into a competency is an ill-advised leap that transforms a complex educational mission into a bottom-line venture. This commentary provides a critical examination of the wholesale use of competency measures in academic medicine, using the concurrent articles by Murray-Garcia and Garcia about multiculturalism and by Kumagai about narrative medicine as thoughtful examples of educational efforts that turn away from this narrow orientation, focusing instead on the ongoing reflective processes and humility that mark the lifelong development of skilled, empathic physicianhood.

*Cultural Diversity; *Virtues; Clinical Competence/*standards; Education; Empathy; Humans; Medical/*standards; Medical/standards; Narration; Schools; United States

Article information provided for research and reference use only. All rights are retained by the journal listed under publisher and/or the creator(s).

625–626

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