A patient presents with headaches and lethargy. She recently lost her husband, lost her job, and is on the brink of losing her home. She is self-medicating with found prescriptions, and I can smell alcohol on her breath. She cries through the entire appointment.

A 38-year-old male is scheduled for his third visit this month for unspecified back pain, and continues to decline imaging services. 

A young mother is waiting with her two children. They are all suffering from sinus pain and pressure, and productive coughs. They were prescribed antibiotics in the emergency room two weeks ago, but she has a $12,500 insurance deductible and could not afford the medication.

Medically, I have a wealth of information to suggest treatment options to these patients. Years of textbook memorization, medical training, practical experience, plus access to a digital version of every diagnostic and treatment detail available via computer and smartphone have prepared me to know that X can usually be remedied with Y. But are these tools sufficient to treat the whole patient? Maybe not. How much more effective would I be if I had resources like social workers and rehabilitation centers available at my fingertips? Ideas typically not emphasized in medical education such as understanding social issues that contribute to health, exploring a patient’s values or faith, or our role participating in interdisciplinary care teams have left us handicapped in modern medical practice. However, encouraged by the American Medical Association’s contribution of more than $11 million to assist in new curriculum development, some medical educators are attempting to revolutionize their programs.

In 2019, Kaiser Permanente will open a medical school in Pasadena, California which will emphasize integrated care and technological advances like online doctor visits and telemedicine. The Kaiser Permanente School of Medicine will encourage students to get out of the lecture hall and into local communities. Students will visit patients in their homes to see if more effective preventative care can be suggested by seeing how patients live their everyday lives. Students will also be trained as emergency medical technicians by riding in ambulances and responding alongside other medical professionals to trauma and violence in their communities.

The University of Texas, Austin Dell Medical School, which enrolled its first class in June, plans to focus on a collaborative curriculum. Students will experience team-based management of patients and will be encouraged to understand how health systems and social issues contribute to each individual’s health. They’ll participate in weekly classes with pharmacy, nursing, social work, and engineering students. Dell also features an “Innovation, Leadership and Discovery” program allowing students one year to pursue projects related to population health and system redesigns, and will have a collaboration with the university’s College of Fine Arts where students will learn to think of healthcare from the ground up, reimagining the entire healthcare delivery system from the design of hospital gowns, to the possible elimination of waiting rooms. 

Ultimately, we are left to decide for ourselves what a doctor “should” be in the modern practice, and certainly we will never abandon core medical curriculum. But innovations in medical education might be the first step to better preparing us for treatment of not just the patient, but the whole person.