When conference director Larry Chu, MD, took the stage this morning to welcome attendees to Day Two of Medicine X, few people knew he had big news to share. But moments after summarizing yesterday's "great discussions," which show, he said, what can be accomplished when "we pay attention to all voices," he announced the launch of Medicine X Academy. It's an umbrella, he explained, for a variety of initiatives that will take MedX beyond conference walls and "quicken the pace of changing the culture of health care." With the academy, he and his group will continue building a community and work on filling important gaps in education - with a focus on, among other things:
- the importance of participatory medicine and the use of social media in patient engagement
- the use of technology to meet the needs of millenials
- the development of ways to best serve underserved or aging individuals
- the inclusion of end-of-life issues in health-care discussions
The academy will offer massive open online courses and patient education programs and will host a new conference - MedX Ed - to occur just before next year's regular Medicine X event. Noting that MedX has morphed from an annual meeting to a "global movement," conference speaker Bryan Vartabedian, MD, noted that it's "very well prepared" to address issues in medical education. "We have a global community of innovators and, most importantly, we have the proper mindset" to enact change, he told the audience.
The news got those in the audience (many of whom had barely had their first sip of coffee) buzzing. "Very cool - New #MedX ED conference will translate ideas into actionable parts of medical education," wrote one attendee on Twitter, adding this was a necessary thing. "This is bigger than just 'walking the talk'," agreed another. "We're going to change the future of health care."
More news about Stanford Medicine X is available in the Medicine X category.
Previously: Relationships the theme of the day at Stanford’s Medicine X, Stanford Medicine X 2014 kicks off today and Medicine X spotlights mental health, medical team of the future and the “no-smartphone” patient
Photo by Stanford Medicine X
