Policy Without Process: The Problem of the WFME 2025 Declaration

Area of Science:

• Medical Education Policy
• Global Health Governance
• Healthcare Ethics

Background:

• Medical education policy faces complex ethical, social, and institutional demands.
• The World Federation for Medical Education (WFME) 2025 Declaration emphasizes well-being for students, trainees, and physicians.
• This paper critically examines the WFME Declaration's policy implications.

Purpose of the Study:

• To analyze the legitimacy, authority, and coherence of the WFME 2025 Declaration.
• To interrogate the Declaration's authorship, scope, language, and evidentiary basis.
• To identify tensions that may limit the Declaration's practical utility and impact.

Main Methods:

• Critical policy analysis framework.
• Examination of the WFME Declaration's construction of authority.
• Analysis of authorship, scope, language, and evidence.

Main Results:

• Identified four key tensions: lack of transparent authorship, ambiguous definitions, inconsistent normative language, and narrow epistemological frameworks.
• These ambiguities risk overstating WFME's authority and reducing practical utility.
• The Declaration may rely on symbolic authority rather than driving substantive institutional change.

Conclusions:

• WFME Declaration's legitimacy and coherence are challenged by structural ambiguities.
• Policy texts require transparent authorship, plural epistemologies, contextual relevance, and actionable mechanisms for effective global medical education reform.
• Addressing these tensions is crucial for fostering substantive institutional change in medical education worldwide.