TRAINING GOOD DOCTORS AS GOOD TEACHERS (Challenges of Medical Education)

Medical education should not be confined to the practice of few skills and techniques devoid of interpersonal relationship that include patient expectations, attitudes, and enhanced patient doctor interaction. The aim of Medical education is not acquiring theoretical or practical knowledge that can be reproduced in an examination but it is the ability to apply that theoretical knowledge coupled with practical skills to the benefit of the patient in real life situations that are frequently suboptimal especially in countries like India. Medical curriculum must be so designed that every doctor must readily accept that every patient is his examiner but not the recipient of a dole out from the doctor. Medical professionals must understand that it is cleaner and healthier countries that are wealthier. Two parameters that determine whether the above goals of medical education could be achieved are doctor-patient and medical teacherstudent ratios.