“Our ancestors cared for generations they would never know.
Now it is our turn to think of and care for future generations.
We must be better ancestors.” - Roundtable participant
The first roundtable, held at the Agua Caliente Cultural Museum in Palm Springs on September 19 and 20, 2025, brought together physician leaders, health system executives, medical educators, clinical researchers, health tech innovators, NGO executives, scholars, and community leaders. The focus of the gathering was the social mission of health professions education. This roundtable brief features background on the health professional shortage issue facing the region, and key insights and points of inquiry offered by participants.
ROUNDTABLE INSIGHTS
Integrating the social mission into medical and health professional education requires more than curricular reform. It calls for cultural change. Future health professionals must be equipped to lead with empathy, operate across disciplines, and stay accountable to the communities they serve. Education that values healing and systems change will lay the groundwork for a workforce that advances health excellence and collective wellbeing.
Participants explored the role of all health professionals in addressing the broader social conditions that lead to poor health outcomes. They emphasized that education systems must evolve to prepare health professionals not only to treat illness, but also to engage deeply with communities, advocate for systemic change, and uphold a shared social mission.
Participants observed that health professional education is often constrained by rigid systems and limited creative opportunity. They emphasized that innovation, community engagement, and experiential learning are key to preparing a workforce capable of fulfilling healthcare’s social mission Traditional models of education, focused primarily on hospital-based training, can discourage boundary-pushing and independent thinking. To prepare future health professionals to meet society’s needs, education must extend beyond traditional classrooms and clinical rotations.
They suggested that extracurricular, community-based, and technology-enabled experiences can cultivate creativity, empathy, and leadership. These are necessary qualities to realize healthcare’s social mission. By fostering innovation outside formal systems, educators can empower the “incredible people” who will drive excellence and transform healthcare from within.
Participant discussions pointed toward the need for an entirely new model for healthcare workforce development. They envisioned one that sees education as a continuum of care, not merely a credentialing process. Aligning training, incentives, and accountability around community wellbeing and collective purpose may be the most powerful path toward creating an excellent healthcare system.
Roundtable participants noted that existing frameworks for healthcare and workforce development are not keeping pace with the realities of practice or the needs of communities. They called for a fundamental rethinking of how we define health, educate for it, and support those who provide it.
Generativity in medical education is an ethic of responsibility to the next generation of physicians and to the communities they will serve. To build a thriving healthcare system, it is essential to examine how knowledge, values, and practices are passed from one generation of health professionals to the next. Generativity, which can be fostered through intentional mentorship, shared learning, and value transmission, is central to realizing the social mission of medicine. Understanding how medical education has evolved, and whose perspectives have been left out, will empower leaders to design systems that are inclusive, compassionate, and accountable.
New generations of care professionals need to understand the historical contexts of medical education, especially involving marginalized populations, to better navigate today’s healthcare system. When paired with mentorship and sustained support, these elements can help emerging professionals grapple with existing limitations while remaining hopeful and purpose-driven. Participants emphasized the importance of fostering intergenerational conversations to identify shared values.
“We need to challenge how we are getting the outcomes we are, because we already know the system doesn’t work.”
- Roundtable participant
