Newsbites
BMJ 2008; 336 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/sbmj.0802047 (Published 01 February 2008) Cite this as: BMJ 2008;336:0802047
Israel
Students lose out as lecturers strike
Students in four Israeli medical schools are missing basic science lectures as academics strike over pay. “If they don't study everything they have to learn, they cannot graduate. We can't give them a break,” said Pablo Yagupsky, acting dean of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev's Health Sciences Faculty. A delay in graduation may damage the health system, which is already short of doctors in certain specialties, according to senior academics.
Professor Yagupsky said physicians at the medical school were providing some teaching but that it was not enough to replace the academic senior lecturers. Student unions have been arranging extra courses to make up missed material, and have tried to win commitments from their universities to help undergraduates make up for lost time (www.jpost.com).
Italy
Doctors question Hippocratic oath
The Hippocratic oath is read out by medical students on graduation. But senior medical figures in Italy say that it is outdated, and they are campaigning to change it or drop it altogether.
Giorgio Iannetti, a professor of surgery at Rome University, said, “There are passages which are no longer relevant to our times and which newly qualified doctors know in advance they will not be able to respect.” The oath must either be abolished or …
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