Abstract
The Institute of Medicine has reviewed and made recommendations concerning current teaching approaches, content, and barriers to the incorporation of behavioral/social sciences in medical school curricula (Cuff & Vanselow, 2004). This paper discusses those recommendations, the history of medical education reform, the barriers to and evolution of behavioral/social sciences’ inclusion, and the implications for psychology’s future role in academic medicine. Psychological concepts and technology permeate medical practice, but little progress has been made in integrating psychological and biological sciences. Looking to its basic science domains (e.g. cognition, learning, development, neuroscience), psychology can take scientific leadership in illuminating the mechanisms by which behavioral/social processes interact with biological functions in health, thereby providing the empirical basis for a truly integrated bio-behavioral curriculum.
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This article is based upon a symposium, “IOM Report on Enhancing Behavioral & Social Science in Medical Education: Impact and Opportunities for Psychology,” presented at the Annual meeting of the American Psychological Association, Washington, D.C., August 21, 2005. Suzanne Bennett Johnson, Chair; Elena Reyes, John E. Carr, and Anthony Errichetti, participants; Eugene K. Emory, Discussant.
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Carr, J.E., Emory, E.K., Errichetti, A. et al. Integrating Behavioral and Social Sciences in the Medical School Curriculum: Opportunities and Challenges for Psychology. J Clin Psychol Med Settings 14, 33–39 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10880-006-9049-0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10880-006-9049-0