Dr. Darrell G. Kirch, president and chief executive officer of the Association of American Medical Colleges, discussed the future of the health care industry and how reform will influence medical education and academic medical centers in the coming years during a special lecture at Weill Cornell Medical College Sept. 13.
During his visit, hosted by Dr. Antonio M. Gotto Jr., dean of Weill Cornell Medical College, Dr. Kirch spoke with the Board of Directors of the Associated Medical Schools of New York, of which Dr. Gotto is the chairman.
"I firmly believe that we will look back at some point and acknowledge that this year has been a turning point," Dr. Kirch said. "People have always been saying academic medicine was under so much pressure, but this year that really is the case."
There are three major issues facing academic medical centers today, Dr. Kirch explained: education reform, research reform and the overall health care reform. Are medical centers training doctors who are prepared for the future of medicine, and is research geared toward better delivery systems? Where do these questions fit in the broader reform debate?
Dr. Kirch said he has been hearing these questions from peers, from Congress and from the general public, and that answers need to be found.
"My question to you is, if you have those three major forces at work, are you as leaders going to engage in watchful waiting, basically trying to guide your institutions from day to day and week to week, to make this year's budget?" Dr. Kirch said. "Or are you going to say it is time for us, instead of hoping that the status quo can continue for years to come, to make major change in our institutions and create a better future for academic medicine?"
On the education front, Dr. Kirch discussed the need for better coordination among the departments and divisions delivering medical education at all career points, so that the continuum of medical education follows a more cohesive path from start to finish.
"In the research mission, the biggest change I would describe this way. In the past, members of Congress would ask, 'Can you cure cancer or Alzheimer's disease?' Now they say, 'Why should we give you more research funding when we spend more than any other country but don't have better health indices?'" Dr. Kirch said. "We need to put more of our research capacity on the front of trying to figure out how to make delivery systems work more effectively. How do we get the right care to people at the right time?"
And that reform to education and research needs to be simultaneous with the changes being implemented by health care reform, Dr. Kirch said, or the chance for success will be even slimmer.
Photo credit: AAMC