On April 22nd, Dr. Dan Hunt gave the annual Robert S. Daniels Lecture on Medical Education. Dr. Hunt is currently a co-Secretary of the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME) and the Senior Director of Accreditation Services for the AAMC. Prior to accepting those positions in 2007, he was involved in several innovative medical school curriculum initiatives. For 17 years, he oversaw the WWAMI (Washington, Wyoming, Alaska, Montana, and Idaho) collaborative for medical education. After this, he developed a unique curriculum for a new medical school in Canada (Northern Ontario School of Medicine in Thunder Bay, Ontario). The entire focus of this school was to train students for rural primary care practice.
During his visit, Dr. Hunt met with a group of medical students over breakfast. He then met with faculty members involved with curriculum renewal. Students and faculty alike enjoyed hearing his perspective about medical education and about medical school accreditation. He also met with Dean Nelson before delivering the Daniels Lecture to a crowded lecture hall at noon, in conjunction with Medicine Grand Rounds. During the lecture, he described some of the most innovative changes he has seen in medical education and medical school admissions. He also described the role of accreditation as a process that both ensures quality and drives change. Finally, he addressed some the of the ongoing changes in international medical education, particularly the development of accreditation processes that are modeled after the LCME.
The medical school will undergo a re-accreditation visit from the LCME in the fall of 2017, and we will begin the intensive self study process this summer. Dr. Hunt’s visit serves as a nice background to the rationale behind all of the hard work that lies ahead – assurance of an excellent education for our students, and overall institutional Improvement. The Office of Undergraduate Medical Education is grateful for the opportunity to bring such a distinguished visitor to our campus. The Daniels family sponsors this annual lectureship, and we thank them for their continued support of our educational programs.