CHAPTER 13

Research-Driven Medical Education and Practice: A Case for T-Shaped Professionals

Nicholas M. Donofrio, Jim Spohrer1, Hossein Seif Zadeh, and Haluk Demirkan

Abstract

T-Shaped Professionals have problem-solving (depth) and complex-communication (breadth) skills. The phrase originated in computer ­education and then spread to other areas in part to create a contrast with traditional, highly specialized I-shaped professionals. Cataldo, Carley, and Argote (2001) vary the ratio of specialists (depth) and generalists (breadth) in simulations of organizations to study performance effects including total knowledge transferred. Levy and Murnane analyze job descriptions in the United States over a 30-year period and ­identify a trend toward ...

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