The future of medical education was the focus of discussion at a conference in Hershey this week. In conjunction with the American Medical Association, Penn State College of Medicine convened the 32 medical school members of the AMA’s newly expanded Accelerating Change in Medical Education Consortium.

The AMA launched its Accelerating Change in Medical Education initiative in 2013 to bridge the gaps that exist between how medical students are trained and how health care is delivered. The AMA has since awarded $12.5 million in grants to 32 of the nation’s leading medical schools to develop innovative curricula that can ultimately be implemented in medical schools across the country.

Penn State College of Medicine launched the Systems Navigation Curriculum in August 2014 with the help of a five-year $1 million AMA grant. The curriculum embeds first-year medical students working as patient navigators in 36 clinical sites throughout central Pennsylvania.

Among the patient navigators this year is Catherine McDermott, who says she has learned as much or more about patients in their homes as she has in the clinic setting. Many of those cases lead to solutions for the patients, such as an elderly patient who was able to remain connected with his social circle, despite no longer being able to drive.

Read more about McDermott’s story and this week’s conference in this Penn State Medicine article.