title: Workforce, learners, competencies, and the learning environment: Research in Medical Education 2014 and the way forward.
abstract: Medicine in the United States is changing as a result of many factors, including the needs and demands of 21st-century society. In this commentary, the authors review the 2014 Research in Medical Education (RIME) articles in the context of these changes and with an eye toward the future. The authors organized the 12 RIME articles into four broad themes: career development and workforce issues; competency and assessment; admissions, wellness, and the learning environment; and intended and unintended learning. Although the articles represent a broad range of issues, the authors identified three key take-home points from the collection: (1) Schools may be able to address the looming shortage of primary care physicians through admission selection criteria and targeted curricular activities; (2) better understanding of the competencies required to perform complex physician tasks could lead to more effective ways to teach and assess these tasks; and (3) the intended and unintended learning that take place in the medical learning environment require careful attention in order to produce physicians who are both skilled enough and well enough to meet the needs of society.
authors.affiliation: Dr. West is professor, Department of Pediatrics, UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital and University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California. Dr. Robins is professor, Departments of Biomedical Informatics and Medical Education, Family Medicine and Pediatric Dentistry, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington. Dr. Gruppen is professor, Department of Learning Health Sciences, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan.
authors.forename: Daniel C
authors.initials: DC
authors.lastname: West
authors.forename: Lynne
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Robins
authors.forename: Larry D
authors.initials: LD
authors.lastname: Gruppen
mesh_terms: D035843:Biomedical Research / Q000193:education*; D002321:Career Choice; D002983:Clinical Competence; D004501:Education, Medical / Q000592:standards* / Q000639:trends; D004777:Environment; D005260:Female; D005544:Forecasting; D006801:Humans; D007858:Learning; D008297:Male; D010820:Physicians / Q000600:supply & distribution*; D014481:United States