The Medical College of Wisconsin hopes a big gift to the institution helps it establish new methods of training doctors. The money will be used to create a new curriculum that a half dozen schools across the country will adopt. The College is getting $38 million from the Kern Foundation.
The school will use the funds to create the Kern Institute. Its goal will be to determine how to best educate students in the art of compassionate care.
“More on the integrated aspect of how we relate to each other as people and how physicians relate to their patients."
MCW’s Vice President of Academic Outreach Cheryl Maurana spoke Thursday, as the college outlined the plans. She says the institute will focus on developing the competence of physicians, as well as their character.
Chief Executive Officer John Raymond says demands of the profession are constantly changing, so educators have to evolve, too.
“In terms of caring, we want to make sure in this electronic and digital age, that we don’t focus so much on technology but we need to reincorporate the human touch into medicine,” Raymond says.
While the Medical College of Wisconsin will house the Kern Institute and lead its efforts, other institutions will contribute ideas -- and teach the curriculum the institute develops. The list of six partners includes the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, and the Mayo Clinic School of Medicine.
Raymond says MCW plans to hire a dozen staff members to develop the new curriculum. He says the Institute will be located in existing space within the Medical College.
