Published 22 August 2008, doi:10.1136/bmj.a119
Cite this as: BMJ 2008;337:a119

Editorials

Continuing medical education in the 21st century

Needs to recapture professionalism in lifelong learning

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

The relations between large bodies of money and the healing professions have often been ambiguous. Commercial interests have sought to influence the course and content of doctors’ education. On the other hand, foundations established through personal wealth have funded some of the principal reports and reflections that have shaped professional education. For example, the Carnegie Foundation supported Abraham Flexner’s 1910 report on the state of medical education in North America. This changed medical schools dramatically in terms of scientific education and commercial influence. As a result, more than 100 schools based on commercial interests closed in subsequent years. Over the following decades, the medical professional and academic communities established accreditation systems of setting standards and mutual site visits with audit, and later quality improvement.

The interlinked Committee on the Accreditation of Canadian Medical Schools and Liaison Committee on Medical Education currently accredit approximately 150 undergraduate programmes in North America. These . . . [Full text of this article]

Robert F Woollard, Royal Canadian Legion professor and head

1 UBC Department of Family Practice, Vancouver, BC, Canada V6T 1Z3

woollard@familymed.ubc.ca


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