Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, Illinois 60611, USA.
Acad Med. 2010 Feb;85(2):283-7. doi: 10.1097/ACM.0b013e3181c8e4a2.
The central thesis of Abraham Flexner's analyses of North American and European medical education was that the university is essential to the provision of a medical education. The authors invoke the spirit of Flexner to envision further contributions of the university at large to undergraduate medical education. Medical curricula now include elements of a variety of other disciplines that are better represented in other parts of the university. Most schools, however, even those closely affiliated with a comprehensive university, do not take full advantage of these resources, nor do they offer sufficient opportunities for students to pursue individualized interests and learning goals. Medical school now plays a different role in the education of physicians than it did a century ago-it remains the definitive, but is no longer the ultimate, stage in a continuum involving college, professional, postgraduate, and continuing education. The authors explore the medical school years as an opportunity for a liberal education in medicine. Beyond the assurance of competence in core knowledge, skills, and perspectives, this model places more emphasis on nurturing students' intellectual curiosity about phenomena of illness and disease, their understanding of the human condition, and their exploration of the many other disciplines related to medicine and the life sciences. A richer, broader education can be achieved through more flexible and individualized paths to the MD and facilitated by realizing medical schools' full academic citizenship in the university.
亚伯拉罕·弗莱克斯纳（Abraham Flexner）对北美和欧洲医学教育的分析的核心论点是，大学对于提供医学教育至关重要。作者援引弗莱克斯纳的精神，设想了大学对本科医学教育的进一步贡献。医学课程现在包括各种其他学科的元素，而这些学科在大学的其他部分得到了更好的体现。然而，大多数学校，即使是与综合性大学密切相关的学校，也没有充分利用这些资源，也没有为学生提供足够的机会来追求个性化的兴趣和学习目标。与一个世纪前相比，医学院在医生教育中的作用已经发生了变化——它仍然是一个决定性的阶段，但不再是一个连续体的最终阶段，这个连续体包括大学、专业、研究生和继续教育。作者探讨了医学院的时光，将其视为医学领域的自由教育的机会。除了确保在核心知识、技能和观点方面的能力之外，这种模式更加强调培养学生对疾病现象的好奇心、对人类状况的理解，以及对与医学和生命科学相关的其他许多学科的探索。通过更灵活和个性化的医学博士学习路径，并实现医学院在大学中的充分学术公民身份，可以实现更丰富、更广泛的教育。
