INSIGHT 3:
New extracurricular approaches are needed to prepare the workforce to fulfill the social mission.
Areas of Inquiry and Research Questions
Inquiry Area 1: Expanding Experiential and Community-based Learning
Participants emphasized that fulfilling the social mission of healthcare requires learning that extends beyond classrooms and clinical settings. They underscored the value of community-based, hands-on experiences that connect students to real-world contexts, deepen empathy, and sustain engagement in care. Community-based and service-learning opportunities, global fieldwork, and other experiential models were viewed as essential to developing adaptable, socially conscious professionals.
Discussions explored where today’s learning spaces exist, such as new educational networks and teaching environments outside the hospital, and how experiential, in-the-field training, widely used in other countries, could inform U.S. health professions education. Participants also reflected on the evolving meaning of “service” in medical careers and how service-learning approaches can more intentionally advance the social mission of health professions education.
Research Questions
- With regard to healthcare outcomes, how has experiential learning made a difference?
- What aspects of community-based or service-learning motivate medical students to stay engaged and committed to their education journeys?
- Who are the collaborators needed to standardize the area of community-based experiences and leadership in service-learning?
- What are effective, co-curricular, and extracurricular methods to deliver social mission and leadership education and training for students? How can these efforts be scaled?
- What are the opportunities for innovation and how can we ensure that initiatives are sustainable and adaptable over time?
- How is community connection fostered (e.g. doctor to community, community to doctor)?
Inquiry Area 2: Leveraging Technology to Advance the Social Mission
Participants discussed how technology is reshaping the landscape of healthcare education and practice. While digital tools and artificial intelligence (AI) offer opportunities to expand learning and access, they also raise questions about maintaining the human and relational dimensions of care. They emphasized the need to understand how technology can both support and challenge the social mission, and how health professionals can learn to use these tools ethically, equitably, and creatively. They observed that technology is transforming how we achieve health and care.
Research Questions
- How will emerging technology affect, support, or hinder the social mission of education and healthcare practice?
- How does technology influence learning throughout medical and health profession school pathways?
- How are the relational and human elements of healthcare evolving with the rise of technology?
- How might new technologies facilitate learning and overcome barriers, or not?
- How do we learn to oversee the use of emerging technologies, integrate them, and understand roles of innovations like AI?
- What are the implications for the social mission of healthcare and education in the age of automation and AI in medicine?