The purpose of medical education is to benefit patients by improving the
work of doctors. Patient centeredness is a centuries old concept in
medicine, but there is still a long way to go before medical education
can truly be said to be patient centered. Ensuring the centrality of the
patient is a particular challenge during medical education, when
students are still forming an identity as trainee doctors, and
conservative attitudes towards medicine and education are common amongst
medical teachers, making it hard to bring about improvements. How can
teachers, policy makers, researchers and doctors bring about lasting
change that will restore the patient to the heart of medical education?
The authors, experienced medical educators, explore the role of the
patient in medical education in terms of identity, power and location.
Using innovative political, philosophical, cultural and literary
critical frameworks that have previously never been applied so
consistently to the field, the authors provide a fundamental
reconceptualisation of medical teaching and learning, with an emphasis
upon learning at the bedside and in the clinic. They offer a wealth of
practical and conceptual insights into the three-way relationship
between patients, students and teachers, setting out a radical and
exciting approach to a medical education for the future.
"The authors provide us with a masterful reconceptualization of medical
education that challenges traditional notions about teaching and
learning. The book critiques current practices and offers new approaches
to medical education based upon sociocultural research and theory. This
thought provoking narrative advances the case for reform and is a must
read for anyone involved in medical education." -
David M. Irby, PhD, Vice Dean for Education, University of California,
San Francisco School of Medicine; and co-author of Educating Physicians:
A Call for Reform of Medical School and Residency
"This book is a truly visionary contribution to the Flexner centenary.
It is compulsory reading for the medical educationalist with a serious
concern for the future - and for the welfare of patients and learners in
the here and now."
Professor Tim Dornan, University of Manchester Medical School and
Maastricht University Graduate School of Health Professions Education.
