Duke in Pictures: Medical Education for Congress
Duke program gives staffers a taste of academic medicine
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
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Durham, NC -- School of Medicine Dean. Nancy Andrews, right, speaks with participants in a medical education program for congressional staff during their white coat presentation at the Duke Clinic Lobby on Tuesday morning.
Legislative assistants from six North Carolina congressional offices are taking the two-day program to learn more about health care and policy issues. Observers from Wake Forest and Northwestern universities sat in to learn how to replicate the program back home.
The objective of the program is to explain the interrelated missions of academic medical centers in educating the health care workforce, advancing medicine through research and innovation, providing high-quality health care and serving the community.
The visitors received a whirlwind look at medical education, including meetings with medical students and faculty, a look at Duke’s distinctive medical curriculum and innovations in teaching using new technology. They also toured the hospital’s Emergency Department, heard about new patient care initiatives and were briefed on Duke’s efforts in genomic and personalized medicine.
On Monday Chancellor for Health Affairs Victor Dzau and other Duke Medicine administrators provided an overview of academic medicine and the financial challenges it faces.
“It’s critical for Congress to understand how the policies made in D.C. impact doctors and nurses and patients in the hospitals back home,” said Paul Vick, associate vice president for government relations for Duke University Health System. “If you don’t understand that, you can’t make good policy.”
The program was organized by Duke’s Office of Government Relations. It is part of Project Medical Education, a communications effort of the Association of American Medical Colleges.
Photo by Megan Morr
