Cover Story

Quality Clinical Training – Understanding the theoretical knowledge of science

The medical education market size was valued at $74.5 billion in 2020 and is projected to reach $122.8 billion by 2027 at a CAGR of 7.60%

“Clinical training enhances responsibility, maturity, and compassion in the development of professional excellence. Students learn how to conduct themselves as physicians, take responsibility, work harmoniously with professional colleagues, and exhibit maturity. Clinical training perfects your healthcare education. It’s also important because it offers students multiple opportunities to socialize as a physician to understand the important responsibilities that you’re given with the privilege of caring for other human beings. Additionally, every rotation is an audition toward residency training. The work that every student does is noticed by his or her peers, the residents, and the faculty, who want to get the best residents they can into their program,” says, Grant

Quality clinical training generally presents an opportunity to expand the knowledge of doctors before and during their employment as healthcare professionals because they are directly involved in the process of preserving the life and health of the people they offer their services to on a day to day basis.

The medical education market size was valued at $74.5 billion in 2020 and is projected to reach $122.8 billion by 2027 at a CAGR of 7.60%.

Dr. Robert Grant, Senior Associate Dean for Clinical Studies at St. George’s University School of Medicine, Grenada talks to us about the importance of quality healthcare training for the future generations of doctors.

What is quality clinical training?

A very significant and important part of being a medical school student is understanding the theoretical knowledge of science, but an equally crucial component is the tangible difference that quality in-hospital training can make on an aspiring physician. Quality training is about putting theory into practice while getting exposure to the different disciplines.

Success of the training relies on a wide range of exposure to equipment, scenarios and patient populations. Working with different experienced healthcare practitioners enables trainees to apply learned concepts in a patient-centered environment.

Why is quality training important?

Clinical training enhances responsibility, maturity, and compassion in the development of professional excellence. Students learn how to conduct themselves as physicians, take responsibility, work harmoniously with professional colleagues, and exhibit maturity. Clinical training perfects your healthcare education. It’s also important because it offers students multiple opportunities to socialize as a physician to understand the important responsibilities that you’re given with the privilege of caring for other human beings. Additionally, every rotation is an audition toward residency training. The work that every student does is noticed by his or her peers, the residents, and the faculty, who want to get the best residents they can into their program.

How is it crucial for the future generation of doctors?

It starts with exposure to the different disciplines. No one knows what the life of a practicing physician in a certain specialty is really like until they get to live it.

Personally, I went to medical school because I wanted to be an ophthalmologist. It wasn’t until I rotated through other disciplines—and spent some time in ophthalmology and realized I didn’t really want to be a n ophthalmologist—that I settled in the surgical world, and then ultimately on a career as a reconstructive plastic surgeon. Students in their final two years of medical school at St. George’s University, Grenada will experience core rotations in internal medicine, pediatrics, surgery, obstetrics/gynecology, and psychiatry, which will help future doctors become familiar with the skills and mindset to excel in these specialties. These clinical rotations can be completed at one of over 70 affiliated hospitals in the US and UK. These different healthcare systems provide a unique perspective on the variety of environments our students will experience during their careers in medicine.

There is an increasing focus on improving healthcare in order to ensure higher quality, greater access and better value for money. What is your say on this?

Value-based care, as opposed to the traditional ‘fee for service’ delivery of care is a mechanism increasingly employed by third party payors-and government funded health plans to contain the rising costs of health care in innovative ways. Use of AI and other technologies, clinical operations initiatives, electronic medical record platforms and data sharing amongst stake holders are examples of applications that facilitate this transformation in how providers are paid based on individual and population based clinical outcomes. Increased coverage, improved access and more consistent clinical outcomes are the goals of this dynamic change in how health care delivery is financed.

Start by learning as much as you can about your own health care plan and coverage. We all must make decisions about what plan to participate in, whether it is a commercially provided or government financed plan. Pay attention to the discussions taking place at the highest levels of government and in your own personal or family benefit package around care costs.

What evidence is there about the most effective methods for training clinicians in quality improvement?

Like epidemiology, ethics, palliative care, an interpretation of clinical studies business-related topics, like quality improvement, are essential components of the educational paradigm for all MDs, regardless of specialty. How physicians get paid, and contribute to how the health care dollar is spent, are subjects covered in multiple ways, and at multiple times in our St. George’s University basic science and clinical curricula.

What is the impact and effectiveness of the training?

For aspiring doctors who are preparing to devote their lives to the care of others, an international education can be particularly eye-opening. By exchanging ideas and working towards group objectives with fellow students from different places, each student learns how to adjust better, be more flexible and respond smartly to unexpected outcomes – a regular occurrence in the life of a doctor. Patients, moreover, come from all walks of life and need to all be treated with the same compassion and equality. An international education helps to build the right attitude to approach the practice of medicine.

How to get started in quality improvement training?

Start by learning as much as you can about your own health care plan and coverage. We all must make decisions about what plan to participate in, whether it is a commercially provided or government financed plan. Pay attention to the discussions taking place at the highest levels of government and in your own personal or family benefit package around care costs. Understanding your share of the cost of health care you receive. Things like co-pays and deductibles and predetermination requirements helps all people, and especially MDs in training get a better understanding of the challenges and opportunities value-based care entails.

Why and how should health professionals want to learn about quality improvement?

The practice of medicine requires an increasingly sophisticated understanding of how health care delivery is financed. Quality improvement initiatives provide the structural foundation for value-based care. Given this focus on outcomes, an understanding of how patients respond to a given diagnostic and treatment data algorithm is an essential competency for all MDs.