Flexner's model and the future of medical education

Less attention has been paid to Flexner's educational philosophy as compared with the recommendations he made to reform American medical education in Bulletin No. 4 of the Carnegie Foundation, the so-called "Flexner Report." His philosophy begins with the education of the child, having much in common with the educational theories of John Dewey, and is based on learning by observing and doing. Flexner believed that all education should be utilitarian and should prepare the individual for the responsibilities of citizenship and for an occupation or a profession. He also believed that general education lasted too long in this country. Based on Flexner's educational philosophy rather than the four-year medical school model that bears his name, the education of the physician is reexamined. Recommendations are made concerning the interface between the last two years of college and the first two years of medical school that would better equip the future physician to face the complexities of medical practice in the next century. Further, if medical schools were given responsibility for graduate medical education, as has been recommended by prestigious committees in the past, it would be possible to integrate the medical school clinical years with those of residency training and thereby improve the educational experience. A consideration of the education of the physician as a continuum, beginning in the third year of college and ending with the conclusion of residency training, also would be entirely consistent with Flexner's educational views.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)