Health and society education in a liberal arts college: a curricular strategy.

This paper examines the curricular response of colleges and universities to conflict among scientific and medical experts regarding the application of professional knowledge and technical expertise to public policy and patient care. Two types of interdisciplinary science programs now exist on many campuses: those that attempt to increase the "scientific literacy" of humanities and social science students and those that try to enrich the "social consciousness" of physical and life science students. An alternative philosophy of education is proposed that is based on three objectives: to introduce the logical processes for establishing causes in the health sciences; to identify limits of scientific and technical knowledge in health-related areas; and to develop familiarity with problems of decision-making under conditions of scientific or clinical uncertainty. Illustrative cases in clinical medicine and public health suggest how to apply this educational philosophy. The paper concludes by observing that premedical education reform is impossible without redefining the "liberal arts" tradition of undergraduate education.