Transforming Clinical Education in Obstetrics and Gynecology: Gone Is the Day of the Sage on the Stage

Obstet Gynecol. 2016 Apr;127(4):763-767. doi: 10.1097/AOG.0000000000001356.

Abstract

Many traditional approaches to clinical education today are outdated and inefficient with disruptive changes on the horizon. Millennials are the new wave of learners in health care and do not learn the same way as their older faculty. Merging health care systems are moving to standardizations of care and reduction of errors, and health care providers are going to be increasingly held more accountable for their clinical outcomes. Computers, digitalization, and connectivity are revolutionizing learning environments, and simulation learning in the form of trainers, mannequins, and team training is already widespread. Newer technologies like virtual and augmented reality are beginning to be used for clinical education and will be a more efficient and standardized way of providing simulation learning. Emerging technologies like holograms and head-mounted displays will follow soon after and be even more disruptive. Faculty and mentors will always be crucial to learning in health care but will be empowered to teach in more focused and comprehensive ways. The educational model of the future will be a hybrid model of experienced faculty, interactive learning, and innovative and emerging technology. It is time we start to train health care providers for their future, not our past.

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Computer Simulation
  • Education, Medical / methods*
  • Educational Technology / trends*
  • Female
  • Gynecology / education*
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Obstetrics / education*
  • Teaching / trends*