Reconstruction in the practice of medicine : Harveian oration for 1941 of the Royal College of Physicians of London / Sir E. Farquhar Buzzard.

  • Sir Farquhar Buzzard, 1st Baronet
Date:
[1942?]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Reconstruction in the practice of medicine : Harveian oration for 1941 of the Royal College of Physicians of London / Sir E. Farquhar Buzzard. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    of watertight compartments and to give the student a sense of reasonable and reasoned continuity in his education which is now lacking. This is not the moment for attempting a detailed reconstruction of the preclinical syllabus but it would not be out of place to suggest that time could be spared from the hours spent in dissecting the whole body, for instance, and devoted to the study of elementary socio- logy and psychology. It is impossible to appreciate the problems of human life without some acquaintance with man’s normal and abnormal reactions to his physical and personal environment, and the earlier the student is introduced to this important aspect of his future work the better prepared will he be to understand the significance of health and disease when he enters his hospital world. CLINICAL EDUCATION During the next 3 years the student’s attention is largely concentrated on the study of human pathology. He needs, at the beginning, to become familiar with the fundamental principles of general pathology and bacterio- logy, and throughout this period to reinforce that acquaintance by observations in the laboratory and post- mortem room as well as at the bedside. The natural history of disease and the recognition of its early signs are subjects on which emphasis is naturally laid by his teachers who, for the most part, have chosen diagnostic and remedial medicine as their particular branch of the profession. This is only right and proper; but, in the interests of the majority of students, who are destined for general practice or public health work, more of their energy and time than has been hitherto the case should be devoted to other aspects of their future work. In all recent attempts to review and revise the medical curricu- lum stress has been laid on such defects as the lack of attention to preventive measures, to the relative paucity of facilities for the study of minor ailments and to the need for more systematic instruction in psychological medicine. ‘There is room, perhaps, for a larger and more varied panel of teachers and a reconsideration of their responsibilities. Greater use, too, might be made of other health and social services and of other institutions for that purpose. It may be that such changes, which are generally agreed to be desirable in the clinical phase of the curriculum, will not be carried out until altera- tions are made in the status, appointment and duties of the teaching staffs of medical schools and until eae aoe On, of hospital services has come into effect. It is unnecessary to elaborate further the reform of the clinical period of the curriculum if its essential purpose, the preparation for a basic qualification common to all branches of the profession, is kept in mind. In
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