Changes occurring in medical education

Press, Volume CXII, Issue 32861, 9 March 1972, Page 10

Changes occurring in medical education

The traditional patterns of f medical education were being £ replaced by innovations and ‘ almost by accident contem- j porary medical education < found itself in the lead in [ higher education, the dean of t the Christchurch Clinical School of Medicine (Profes- r sor G. R. Rolleston) said f when opening the national t conference of the Society of' Physiotherapists in Christ- 1 church yesterday. < One of the reasons for this i minor revolution was the i scientific information explos- < ion, said Professor Rolleston. i This was common to all pro- 1 fessions but medicine was i probably the most prolific in < its output. 1 Specialisation had been the only possible response to the t flood of knowledge with a r catastrophic result as far as < the medical student was con- i cemed. < Other reasons for the t change were the growing em- 8

phasis on the art and science of teaching and learning; the increasing emphasis on research in the teaching programme; and the increasing demand by students and the profession for relevance in the teaching programme. A major difficulty with medical education was to forecast with any accuracy the pattern of health care which would develop in the 1980 s, said Professor Rolleston. This was basic to the problem of medical education in the 1970 s because a student who began the study of medicine in 1972 would not be registered until 1979 and was unlikely to enter his chosen form of practice before the early 1980 s. Professor Rolleston said that many changes had been made in the traditional medical course to allow a broader education and to allow students to study in depth topics in which they had a special interest.