The 2018 PUMCH International Conference on Residency Education was held at the Lecture Hall, PUMCH, September 14. It was jointly organized by PUMCH, China Medical Board (CMB) and Chinese Medical Doctor Association (CMDA). More than 500 people participated, representing the Ministry of Education, National Health Commission, China Consortium of Elite Teaching Hospitals for Residency Education, hospitals and medical schools at home and abroad as well as PUMCH graduates overseas. The conference saw the release of China’s first Consensus on Core Competency Framework for Residency Education, which gave a clear expression of core requirements in residency education at the current stage and filled in a blank in China’s medical education.
The Conference opened at 8:30am. PUMCH Party Secretary Jiang Yuxin chaired the opening ceremony, PUMCH President Zhao Yupei gave an opening speech and CMB President Lincoln C. Chen gave a welcoming speech. Vice-Minister of Education Lin Huiqing gave an important speech. She said that so far four Conferences have been held and each of them focused on a key field and promoted residency education in a solid way. The Consensus to be released today is a guiding framework document, an important measure in medical education, which will fill in a blank in standards of residency education and lay a solid foundation for standardized training.
Then, Lin Huiqing, Zhao Yupei, Lincoln C. Chen, Wang Qiming, deputy director of Department of Higher Education, Ministry of Education and leaders of Consortium hospitals unveiled the Consensus together.
The Consensus is a guiding framework document specially supported by the National Health Commission and formulated by the Consortium. In 2015, PUMCH, together with six top teaching hospitals in China, established the Consortium, and members extended to nine in the following three years. In 2016, PUMCH started its clinical medicine post-doctoral program, and restored the hospital’s “small and elite” tradition. In September 2016 and June-July 2018, Consortium members started two rounds of self-assessment on residency education. They organized respectively in-house surveys and compared with North American standards. Their results served as important references for the reform of residency education in the whole country.
Through the assessments the members realized that presently China doesn’t have clear requirements on the competency of residents. To fill in the blank and supported by the National Health Commission, the Consortium members worked together and set up a clinical education fellow group. Guided by experts at home and abroad, the group looked into standards in various countries, compared them with those of Consortium members and formulated a draft, and, after repeated discussions, finally turned out the Consensus.
The Consensus was presented in six stages, from basic to advanced, and each in its own color. Professionalism is purple, calm and neutral, and serves as the cornerstone. Medical Knowledge and Skill is blue, composed and inclusive, reminding one of the ocean of knowledge. Patient Care is red, hot and passionate, a symbol of a loving heart towards patients. Communication and Collaboration is orange, happy and active, a symbol of mixing in and leading a team. Teaching is green, luxuriant, a symbol of unfailing patience towards students. Life Long Learning is golden, a permanent brilliance and a symbol of never ending commitment to excellence. Under each competency are 3-4 sub-requirements. Professionalism includes ethic codes, dedication to job, humanistic quality and system improvement capability. Medical Knowledge and Skill includes theoretical knowledge, clinical skill and clinical thinking. Patient Care includes clinical policy-making, patient management and education. Communication and Collaboration includes doctor-patient communication, teamwork, leadership and management. Teaching includes clinical teaching, medical science popularization and trans-disciplinary education. Life Long Learning includes self improvement, evidence-based medicine, critical thinking and academic research.
According to PUMCH Vice President Zhang Shuyang, the Consensus gives the fundamental answer as to what kind of medical staff we should produce, and cuts out clear goals in that respect. After being applied in the Consortium, the Consensus received good feedbacks and was praised by the Ministry of Education and the National Health Commission, and proved fit for being promoted nationwide, to facilitate standardized residency education under government support. Based on the Consensus, PUMCH will take the lead to hammer out an assessment system for the core competency, improve such works as curriculum setting, rotation, assessment exam, staffing and qualification exam, so as to produce for the country healthcare workers who have love, dedication and expertise.
During the one-day event educators from world-class institutions, including the medical school of University of Michigan, the University of Chicago Medicine and Mayo Clinic, had discussions with leaders of Consortium members, on such topics as competency standards and cultivation, humanistic quality, clinical education and medical safety.
A new feature of the Conference was its “teaching and learning” dialogue. It was chaired by residents, who raised questions from students’ point of view and triggered more thoughts and discussions. Lastly, young doctors from our hospital staged a recitation performance, remembering the older generation’s dedication and love to patients and students. The Conference concluded in a reciting of the Hippocratic Oath by all participants.
As in previous years, on September 10-17 PUMCH held a teaching week, which featured 40 activities of various forms. Medical educators from University of Chicago, University of Michigan, Cincinnati Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School and Italy’s San Donato Hospital, together with representatives of Chinese hospitals and PUMCH graduates overseas, engaged in teaching activities including critical reading of medical literature, surgical skill competition, workshop, discussion and skill training.
The Teaching Week helped to bring internationally advanced ideas into the hospital’s residency education, contributed to the Consortium’s innovations in medical education as well as to the improvement in teacher management and training and enhancement of residents’ core competency.