ABSTRACT
Comparable alterations in medical education, leading, unless the trajectory changes, to: a continued preponderance of specialists and subspecialists relative to primary care physicians, with increasing reliance on nonphysician paradigms of general practice. Surgical education that is confined largely to the operating room, with more pre- and postoperative care responsibility assumed by primary care physicians and allied health personnel. Perhaps the greatest impact on learning will result from the accelerating accumulation of internet accessible information in health-related areas. As information technology evolves, sharing of information among clinicians, teachers and learners, and researchers will be the keystone of daily operations. Inevitably, this flow of knowledge will stimulate innovations in teaching and research and new models for the prevention and management of disease. The education of residents will be customized by the availability of cutting-edge knowledge, and interdisciplinary collaboration facilitated by the ease and rapidity of information exchange.
