Alex McDonald, MD, Kaiser Permanente Bernard J. Tyson School of Medicine Assistant Clinical Professor of Clinical Science, reflects on the unique pressures and responsibilities faced by medical educators in a recent column published in Physician’s Weekly.
Dr. McDonald highlights the immense demands on faculty—juggling clinical care, administrative duties, research, and teaching—all while contending with limited resources and time. Medical educators are constantly striving to do more with less, balancing the need to cover a rapidly expanding body of knowledge with the imperative to foster critical thinking, empathy, and professionalism in their students, he writes. The piece also notes the challenges posed by evolving educational policies, such as the shift toward competency-based training, which requires significant faculty development and curriculum redesign. Amid these pressures, McDonald underscores the importance of preparing future physicians to be not only knowledgeable but also resilient, compassionate, and capable of navigating an increasingly complex healthcare landscape.
Dr. McDonald further discusses the broader societal and technological challenges shaping medical education today, in a time when medical educators must reinforce the role of science and evidence-based practice in an era where public trust in scientific institutions is sometimes questioned. He also expresses pride in the transformative impact of medical education, emphasizing the privilege and profound responsibility of guiding the next generation of physicians through these evolving challenges.
