For the past decade, the medical school and the health system have been working deliberately to understand and address how to improve the way teachers and learners interact in the learning environment, especially when caring for patients.
Data from annual surveys of graduating medical students since 2010 indicated that UMMS has room to improve civility in the learning environment. The school has taken the approach to reduce issues through better reporting mechanisms, discussions in multiple settings, and involvement of leadership.
Since 2010, work on improving civility in the learning environment has evolved in three phases: Understanding (2010-11), Enhancing (2012-16), and Systematizing (2017-present).
At each phase, the school has expanded awareness, discussions and interventions. This includes more resources dedicated to skill building, such as giving and receiving feedback, bystander interventions, and how to promote questions in a respectful manner. Leadership has noted improvement through this expanded system-wide approach to civility, professionalism and mistreatment.
The Office of Medical Student Education has produced a 1-page informational flyer on “Civility,” and a series of brief videos on this topic, and others, that further explain important aspects of U-M’s medical education program.
The Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME) — the group responsible for reaccreditation of the medical school’s M.D. degree — had planned to visit in April; however, the site visit was postponed by the COVID-19 pandemic. The LCME is planning a virtual site visit for July 8-10.
To learn more about the LCME self-study and upcoming site visit: https://medicine.umich.edu/medschool/about/lcme-self-study