Integration of the Educators: Training Program to Bridge the Foundational‐Clinical Science Divide in Medical Training
Authors: Zumwalt Ann C. , Dominguez M. Isabel 
Published: November 2023

In its influential 2010 report Educating Physicians: A Call for Reform of Medical School and Residency, the Carnegie Institution called for a number of significant reforms to medical education, including the promotion of “multiple forms of integration.” Since then, academic leaders in American medical schools have increasingly turned their attention to the challenge of integrating the foundational and clinical sciences in their curricula. Examples include attempts to integrate individual lessons, courses, years of the curriculum, and entire curricula. However, half a decade after the Carnegie report, practical curricular integration of basic science knowledge with clinical practice remains a challenge. One significant barrier for integration may be the fundamental differences in the perspectives, knowledge, and skill sets of basic science and clinical educators. While these educators are experts in their respective fields, typically neither group has been trained to present knowledge using an integrated framework.

Numerous authors have advocated training basic science educators in the clinical applications and perspectives of their scientific areas of expertise. Thus trained, these basic science educators will be well versed in the perspectives of both foundational and clinical sciences, and therefore will be better equipped to achieve true integration of the material. Conversely, more consistently infusing foundational science knowledge into clinical training will facilitate clinical educators' contributions to integrated curricula.

At BUSM we are engaged in the pilot year of a training program to teach future Ph.D. educators the skills to appreciate, develop, and ultimately teach integrated curricular content. Ph.D. Postdoctoral trainees receive dual training in: 1) the clinical relevance and application of their area of scientific expertise and 2) best practices in teaching. To accomplish these goals the format of the program is as follows: 1) The trainees undergo clinical shadowing experiences with intentional focus that exposes them to the relevance and practical application of basic science content. 2) Their educator training initially focuses on best practices in teaching the biomedical sciences and will culminate with a practical application in which the trainees develop relevant educational materials for a clinical training setting.

These experiences will benefit the trainee by increasing their pool of advisors/mentors, enhancing their skill sets, and diversifying their portfolio of teaching experiences. These will help better prepare the trainees for careers in medical education. In addition, these trainees will make an impact in the medical students' understanding of the practical application and relevance of foundational science topics. We will describe the challenges and lessons learned in the development of this program, the design of its curriculum design in the pilot year, and preliminary feedback from the program mentors and trainee participants.