For an inherently forward-looking enterprise, clinical education carries some strange vestiges of the past. Coat-length hierarchies. Apprenticeship learning models. Pagers.
In this issue of Neurology®,1 Drs. Moeller and Salas provide an expert forecast of neurologic education in 2035. This next installment of the Neurology Future Forecasting Series explores the questions we might ask about the future of clinical training in our specialty: who, what, when, where, and why?
Their answers to those questions reveal many likely differences between today and 2035. The “who,” the learners and the teachers, will reflect the diversity of our field and maturation of the professional role of the educator. What is taught in training, and how, will be different. When and where learning happens will continue to evolve.
Perhaps the only question with an unchanged answer is “why”: academic neurology will continue to invest in education to deliver better outcomes for our future patients. Drs. Moeller and Salas answer these questions with predictions that are grounded but still reflect our aspirations for neurology. As they point out, “the future of neurology education is the future of neurological care.” Their manuscript is not only a tool for current educators to use as a long-term strategic planning guide but also a template for future educators to follow in their own career development.
As with other articles in the Neurology Future Forecasting series, the goal is to provide a structure around which neurologists can prepare for the future of our specialty. Planning brings its own virtues, even if future realities diverge from our best predictions. In that spirit, we will continue to bring expert forecasts to our readers and encourage you to nominate topics of interest.
Footnotes
See page 579
Study Funding
The authors report no targeted funding.
Disclosure
L.K. Jones serves as a voluntary board member of the AANI and the Mayo Clinic ACO; R.A. Gross reports support from University of Rochester CTSI and book royalty income (Neurology in Practice). Go to Neurology.org/N for full disclosures.
References
- 1.Moeller J, Salas RME. Neurology education in 2035: the Neurology Future Forecasting Series. Neurology. 2023;100(12):579-586. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]