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Dr. David Nichols, vice dean for educatiob at the , thinks physicians ought to be preparer to treat the disease even though it is commonly foundd in developingtropical nations. Doctors should also understanfd how the aging ofthe population, environmentao factors and nutrition can impacg how a patient responds to disease treatments. So the 120 studentxs who will enter Johns medical school this fall will learnh about how these factors can play a role in medicine as the institutionn completes its first major curriculumj overhaul in nearlytwo decades. The changes are part of an effortt among medical schools to incorporate sociological factors to better treat andprevent illnesses.
The goal is to preparw students to deliver personalized medicine asfuture doctors. “What Hopkins is doingf is very much in keeping with what medical schoolsw are doing to educate physicianes in the21st century,” said M. Brownell Anderson, seniod director of educational affairs at the Association of AmericahMedical Colleges. The Washington, D.C., nonprofitt oversees medical education. Most medicalp schools have modified their curriculukm somewhat to incorporate an understanding of how geneticz and societal factors caninfluence diseases, Anderson said.
Other schools that have changed their curriculum include the medical schools at the and in New TheHopkins program, Genes to Society, is a year-longv course that begins midway through the first year of medical school and ends in second year. The school will use differentr medical disciplines when teachingthe course. Gone are the separate courses on pathology or pharmacology but rathefr an understanding of how diseases and drug interactionsw are impacted byexternal factors, such as economic circumstances.
For instance, studente may compare one patient who contracts pneumonia but gets better with anothert pneumonia patient who contracts a total body infection and Students will examine whethetr genetic differences or economic issuesz account for the differencein reactions, Nichols That kind of training can help student s provide personalized treatments tailored to each individuals’s uniquwe genotype, lifestyle and socioeconomic Hopkins medical student Steven Chen said the school’sz new course will help studentds understand how everything from genes to a person’s residence can impact their likelihood of, say, contracting “It makes for a better physicianj because you think about the big said Chen, a fourth-year medical school student.
Dr. David B. associate dean for medical education atthe , said whil the school is not overhauling its the school has been emphasizing public health and the impacrt of globalization in its teachings.