I would rather teach students to easily say "I don't know."

In a recent feature by CommonWealth Magazine, management guru Peter Senge was interviewed. When asked whether learning should change now that we are in the era of the generative AI leap, 30 years after he published "The Fifth Discipline" and advocated for "learning organizations," the interviewer queried if learning to write is still necessary when ChatGPT can write articles?

Senge said that this question strikes at the very heart of what 'learning' is all about! Is learning something you 'need' to do, or something you 'come up with' to do? If it's learning out of necessity, then we'll just cope and not engage (and one would choose a job that's just for the money, easy, and close to home!). The purpose of establishing a learning organization is to inspire people within the organization to learn out of desire, not just out of need!

For the past 30 years, I have taken pleasure in my work, striving to implement the concept of a learning organization.

Senge's words strike a chord with me. Since the beginning of my career, I have enjoyed my work and, for these past 30 years in the hospital, I have worked tirelessly to implement the concept of a learning organization, sincerely hoping my colleagues would learn out of desire!

Clearly, this way of thinking and approach comes from my own growth and work experience. When I first went to the United States for my residency training, despite the hard work, I saw many peers and both younger and older teachers around me who were professionally competent and also enjoyed learning and sharing. This quickly made me yearn for such a working environment.

Two years later, I made the most correct decision of my life in my career choices, going to Duke University Medical Center for specialty physician training and staying on as faculty. This gave me the opportunity to learn from Professor Eugene Stead and to work in clinical medicine and medical education in the "learning organization" he created, constantly improving myself day by day.

Those who care about medical education know that the modern system of medical education originated from the major reforms in American medical education at the beginning of the 20th century, and Sir William Osler is considered the father of modern medicine for advocating humanized and scientific medical treatment.

In the United States, Eugene Stead is hailed as the most influential clinical medical educator of the mid-20th century. In the second half of the 20th century, a total of 37 of his proteges were appointed as heads of internal medicine at American medical centers.

People who are good at answering exam questions may not necessarily be good at taking care of patients.

Originally, medical education in the United States comprised a four-year program following a bachelor's degree, with two years of basic medicine and two years of clinical medicine. Professor Eugene Stead, who served as the head of internal medicine at Duke Medical Center from 1947 to 1967, always believed that feeding students information in a classroom and then measuring learning outcomes with written exams was impractical. Much of the memorized knowledge is soon forgotten, and most of the knowledge learned during student days is not applicable after graduation! Therefore, he said that although people generally think that designing a complete curriculum will produce good doctors, it is actually self-deceptive.

When Professor Stead was at Duke Medical School or visiting other medical schools, he often went to the wards and asked medical students or residents questions directly related to patients to understand the learning outcomes. He believed that people who are good at answering exam questions may not necessarily be good at taking care of patients.

So, in 1966, he reformed the curriculum at Duke Medical School by condensing two years of basic medicine into one, allowing medical students to enter clinical medicine in their second year. Then, in the third year, medical students would identify problems from their clinical experience the previous year, propose learning plans, and then seek answers. They could work in laboratories, serve in the community, or pursue master's degrees, among other activities, to inspire and cultivate their ability to learn independently.

When students admit their shortcomings, they will seek answers on their own.

When asked why few medical schools followed Duke Medical School's curriculum reform, Professor Stead replied: "The general idea is that medical schools must produce doctors with complete medical knowledge, but I believe that no matter how rich the curriculum, it is simply impossible to teach a doctor who knows everything in four years of medical education. I would rather teach my students to easily say 'I don't know'! When they can admit their shortcomings and recognize the limits of their knowledge, they will autonomously seek answers. This kind of learning leaves a deeper impression than rote memorization and is more useful."