Shifting concepts, changing contexts: the new schools’ drive for change

Abstract

Seventeen new medical schools were founded in the US and Canada in the decade prior to 2014. These new medical schools continue the tradition of utilizing mission statements (MSs) to convey goals and ideals. The authors aimed to compare these 17 new medical schools’ MSs with MSs of previously established medical schools in the US and Canada. The MSs of the 17 newest medical schools were processed and analyzed utilizing network text analysis software that assessed centrality of concepts within new medical schools’ MSs. This semantic network data was then compared to existing similar analysis by Grbic et al. (Acad Med 88(6):852–860, 2013. doi:10.1097/ACM.0b013e31828f603d). Four concepts were found to be more central in new medical schools’ MSs as compared to established medical schools’ MSs: “physicians,” “improve,” “diversity,” and “innovation.” Grbic et al. found four concepts to be central to all 132 medical schools “health” or “health_care,” “research,” “education,” and “premier” which are shared top themes of the new medical schools’ MSs. The author’s analysis has demonstrated that new medical schools, as compared to previously established subsets of medical schools, developed both shared and unique language within their MSs. This unique vocabulary reflected a response to a dynamic healthcare environment during the decade of new medical school development. New medical schools may have responded to environmental challenges including a physician shortage while also recognizing the need for a diverse physician workforce prepared to apply innovative strategies to healthcare.