The purpose of this chapter is to understand that any residency training program for medical professionals needs to take into account their role as both service providers as well as students. As service providers, particular attention must be paid towards their interaction with health consumers. The tenets of the doctor- patient relationship must be practiced all the time. Also, as they are students, the various modalities by which their learning could be enhanced must be implemented and monitored by the teaching and supervising faculty at each and every stage.
TopKey Points
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the understand what is meant by a curriculum in professional medical education
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to study the nature of the undergraduate medical curriculum and its impact upon specialty residency training
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to look at the various modalities used in undergraduate and postgraduate medical education
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to understand the meaning of ‘the hidden curriculum’ and how it evolves in professional medical education
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to seek ways to optimize the curriculum and if possible reduce its duration
TopIntroduction
Man is the highest in order in the animal kingdom, but when afflicted with disease, is more helpless than the lowest creature on this planet. So it is natural that when man evolved as a civilized human being, an entity known as doctor also came into genesis. The doctor or man of medicine became the custodian of health- and thereby also material wealth and civilizational progress- of mankind.
In every era of man’s evolution and civilization, there has existed a doctor, or healer. These were individuals who spent their life in devotional pursuit of the study of man’s health, by understanding first human anatomy or structure, then physiology or functioning, and then going on to the abnormal or disease state. These pioneer scientists and healers were believed to have magical powers, and one can imagine the awe in which they were held. That would account for similar reverence accorded to the doctor even in the modern era. Even in a fast- paced and consumerist society, the doctor remains a ‘god’ for many- such is the mystique of medicine.
Magic, mystery, medicine- it takes a lot to achieve mastery over these. Long and dedicated study of a range of subjects spanning science, art and commerce is involved in a career in medicine, for not only does the doctor have to heal, but also do it with flair and be able to make a living out of it!