Goodbye to “orgo” ? A new engineering based medical school…
I just learned from Gene Robinson that University of Illinois is opening a new engineering based medical school. This is a novel and interesting development !
I recall as a faculty at Johns Hopkins many of our gifted engineering, physics or computer science undergrads struggled with orgo (Organic Chemistry). It was the big barrier to the top medical schools and many smart pre-meds that received a C in this class and would not see Harvard Medical School or Johns Hopkins at least until their residency…
I never understood why this class is a key requirement for many medical schools given the breadth of knowledge needed in medicine. Drugs are important. Chemistry is very important of course but one can imagine other courses that could be equally useful as a screen for a future physician.
When I jokingly suggested that perhaps it should be dropped as a requirement and become an option or module depending on emphasis, one of my friends and colleagues who is a Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School commented ..
“No orgo? How will med students support themselves on the side making crystal meth?..”.
Clearly a doctor with as sense of humor, but more seriously, medicine is a problem solving discipline that is becoming increasingly driven by computational technology and thinking, engineering and information.
A thought provoking presentation was given a while back by Danny Hillis, who is never boring…
In general, I can imagine a broader slice of relevant topics to screen for best physicians (e.g., statistics, algorithms, logic, chemistry (physical, bio, organic, etc), biology, systems biology, neuroscience, genetics) using a more flexible, modular educational system as discussed in my “agile education” blog. The emphasis should be on motivating and selecting the best talent, rather than loosing gifted future physicians that do not excel in a particular subfield needed to build the vast arsenal of knowledge and skill to be a top physician. Once this pool is selected, they can fill the needed gaps. So NO narrowly defined requirements!
