March 31, 2003

Deckers Named To National Panel
On Improving Medical Education
By Kristina Goodnough

Dr. Peter Deckers, dean of the School of Medicine at the UConn Health Center, is one of 10 medical school deans from around the country invited by the Association of American eMedical Colleges (AAMC) to serve on a national panel to review doctors' training.

The panel, called the Advisory Board for the Institute for Improvement in Medical Education, will take a yearlong look at residency training and continuing medical education, the final two phases of medical education. The first phase of training - medical school - has been the focus of the AAMC's medical education reform activities for the past five years.

During the next year, Deckers and other board members will coordinate a comprehensive review of the current state of medical education in the country. Their findings, scheduled to be released by February 2004, will serve as a blueprint for the Institute's future projects and activities, including ways to improve medical education and curricula, reform the clinical education of students and residents, and enhance public health education in medical schools.

"I am delighted to be asked to participate in the panel's important work," said Deckers. "The practice of medicine has changed dramatically in recent years. It's absolutely crucial that we help make sure that the education we provide our physicians keeps pace with those changes."

Dr. Joseph Martin of Harvard Medical School will chair the group. Other board members are top administrators from the Mayo Medical School; Morehouse School of Medicine; Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine; Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine; the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine; the University of Utah School of Medicine; the University of Washington School of Medicine; and Vanderbilt University School of Medicine.

The Association of American Medical Colleges represents accredited medical schools in the United States and Canada, major teaching hospitals, faculty, medical students, and residents.