Time for another revolution? The Flexner Report in historic context, reflections on our profession.
The Flexner Report, published in the early 20th century, turned medicine toward a firm scientific foundation and raised standards of education and practice. This corrected many of the profession's deficiencies present at the turn of the century such that medicine became capable of improving the health of humanity. While the focus of education on the sciences suited the needs of the era, the pendulum may have swung too far. As medical schools clamored for funding from wealthy capitalists to achieve new standards, they lost autonomy and adopted unsaid values that were possibly a danger to humanity. This dynamic may have led to the manifestation of medicine's dark history marked by the eugenics movement and the Tuskegee Project. This history demonstrates how medicine can impact humanity detrimentally when the broader scope of the humanities and arts is lost. In spite of this understanding, medical education has been dogmatic and resistant to change. The paper ends with a description of the crisis in modern medicine that is on par with the problems it faced in the early 1900s and concludes that it is indeed time for another revolution.
Mindrum
Michael R
MR
University of Vermont, Burlington, Vermont 05401, USA. mrmind01@msn.com
D030861:Capitalism; D004501:Education, Medical / Q000941:ethics / Q000266:history* / Q000592:standards; D004992:Ethics, Medical / Q000193:education / Q000266:history*; D005053:Eugenics / Q000266:history; D005069:Evaluation Studies as Topic; D049673:History, 20th Century; D006808:Humanism; D006801:Humans; D017145:Models, Educational; D015279:Organizational Culture; D009937:Organizational Objectives; D012577:Schools, Medical / Q000941:ethics / Q000266:history* / Q000592:standards; D012941:Social Responsibility; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D012962:Sociology, Medical / Q000266:history*; D014481:United States