Medical Schools as Professional Workplaces

AbstractDespite their different historical origins and separate development up until the beginning of the twentieth century, different types of medical schools around the world have been following convergent paths ever since. Today, medical schools in most countries are part of universities and have research and education facilities embedded in their affiliated or owned teaching hospitals. Academic physicians and scientists employed by medical schools form the core part of academic health centers, with the tripartite mission of research, education, and patient care. Practitioners and scholars alike have traditionally focused on the integration of the academic and clinical enterprises and how different models of organizational relationships and governance arrangements could improve the delivery of the tripartite mission. In recent years, there has been a marked change in the approach to the promotion of academic–clinical integration, with an emphasis on alignment and organizational culture.