Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine
Objectives and competencies Geisinger Commonwealth’s 34 MD program objectives for the curriculum ensure that learners master the six Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (AGCME) competencies that define what it means to be a patient-centered physician in today’s data-driven, systems-based environment. Our program objectives are divided into six categories:
Patients, Families and Communities
Personal and Professional Development
Geisinger Commonwealth physicians focus on the patient. Our duty is to the patient and to the profession. We dedicate ourselves to excellence for the benefit of the community.
Geisinger Commonwealth physicians dedicate themselves to professionalism and the lifelong maintenance of their knowledge, skill and expertise. They appreciate their important role in their community and effectively tend to their own well-being, while living a life of service to others.
Geisinger Commonwealth physicians work effectively within a highly integrated system and know how to lead teams, leveraging each member’s unique skill set and competently deploying technology to benefit patients and communities.
1. Demonstrate insight and understanding of patient’s and family’s emotions and the human response. Build trust with patients and their families.
1. Adhere to the tenets of professionalism which include altruism, accountability, duty, excellence, honesty, integrity, respect for others and responsibility.
1. Discuss the core financial, legal, structural, policy and regulatory aspects of the United States healthcare system and their impact on the delivery of healthcare.
2. Communicate effectively with patients, families and the public across diverse backgrounds. 3. Counsel, advocate for and educate patients and their families to empower them to participate in their care and enable shared decision-making. 4. Employ effective knowledge of the social determinants of health and populations of patients when advocating for optimal solutions for health issues facing patients and communities. 5. Practice sensitivity, honesty and compassion in difficult conversations, including those about death, end of life, adverse events, bad news, disclosure of errors and other sensitive topics.
2. Engage in lifelong personal and professional development and socialization into the medical community of practice. 3. Set learning and improvement goals and incorporate feedback into daily practice to ensure a lifelong commitment to the understanding of current medical knowledge and practices. 4. Identify strengths, deficiencies and limits in one’s knowledge and expertise and perform learning activities that address one’s gaps in knowledge, skills and/or attitudes. 5. Participate in the education of patients, families, students, trainees, peers, members of the community and other health professionals and incorporate feedback into daily practice. 6. Use the knowledge of one’s own role and the roles of other health professionals to facilitate the maintenance of an effective healthcare team.
Health System Citizenship
2. Examine how quality improvement, patient safety and innovation can improve the various healthcare delivery models. 3. Demonstrate a commitment to ethical principles pertaining to provision or withholding of care, confidentiality, informed consent and business practices, including compliance with relevant laws, policies and regulations. 4. Engage in identifying medical errors and implementing potential systems solutions. 5. Effectively communicate and work with other health professionals to establish, develop and continuously enhance interprofessional teams to provide patient- and population-centered care that is safe, timely, efficient, effective and equitable. 6. Systematically analyze practice using quality improvement methods, and implement changes with the goal of practice improvement. 7. Incorporate considerations of cost awareness, risk-benefit analysis and community needs in patient and/or population-based care.
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