A revolutionary new curriculum called NextGenMD is being created at the Miller School of Medicine to prepare and inspire future doctors to more effectively treat individual patients—and to begin to transform the entire health care system. Nearly 200 faculty, residents and students have spent many months working on eight planning teams. In the first phase of the new curriculum, launching with the Class of 2024, the emphasis will be on case-based learning, rather than the traditional lecture. Clerkships will begin much earlier, too. Dr. Mousa Botros, Assistant Professor of Clinical Psychiatry and Psychiatry Clerkship Director said, “The new curriculum allows our medical students to have an early exposure to the clinical setting, empowering their ability to integrate basic science and clinical skills. The clerkships will run in integrated clinical settings to address patients from an encompassing approach. Psychiatry will be integrated with both neurology and family medicine in a combined—Mind, Matter, and Medicine—clerkship.” By reinventing the curriculum through the NextGenMD initiative, the school is building a stronger commitment to understanding the impact of social determinants of health on patient care, and instilling in students an ability and a responsibility to make the changes that will lead to improved outcomes. Faculty members are designing Miami-specific cases to be used in sessions. Symptom-based learning will lead students to consider a fuller range of possible explanations for every patient case and prepare them for their early clinical experiences.
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Uniquely, future classes will be pursuing a more targeted, specialized approach to learning by choosing a Pathway of Emphasis if they are not enrolled in one of the school’s distinctive dual-degree programs. More than 20 pathways will be offered in topics including ethics, health policy, population medicine and many others. Pathway directors will serve as mentors to the students and be involved in their research projects. Dr. Firdaus Dhabhar, Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, will be directing the Mind-Body Medicine and Health pathway of emphasis. “This pathway will expose our medical students to ideas, information, and research, with the aim of enabling them to maximally harness endogenous, biological, mind-body healing mechanisms that exist within their patients, while implementing everything else they learn in medical school to help their patients from the outside,” he explained. Though the curriculum is still a work in progress, students so far have been receptive and enthusiastic about the evolution of NextGenMD. The landscape of medicine is changing, and psychiatry is no exception. Over the last ten years, the number of students choosing to pursue careers in psychiatry at UM has increased nearly six-fold. Given that one in five American adults (about 46 million people) live with a mental illness—and less than
half receive treatment—it’s critical this trend continue upward. Dr. Dhabhar’s pathway will use a combination of didactic sessions, discussions, student presentations, and clinical/research-based experiences. It is designed to enable students to understand, analyze and evaluate such concepts as differing cultures and their approach to mind-body medicine and health; psychological and biological mechanisms through which the brain can affect health, healing and recovery; health consequences of the physicianpatient relationship and stress management; and the mechanisms of resilience and recovery. The surprises and struggles of 2020 have certainly emphasized the themes of resilience and recovery and highlighted the importance of finding the patience and perseverance to overcome. The NextGenMD motto— empower to transform, inspire to serve—will undoubtedly guide our students on their journey to becoming leaders in the field, prepared not just to handle lasting challenges from covid-19 but generally improve the overall health of humanity. This article includes original content written by Chris Morris, Sr. Editor, UMMG Communications, that previously appeared in UM’s Spring 2020 edition of Medicine magazine.
