Question

The Cooke article notes that since Flexner's report the environment has changed dramatically as:

a. As teaching had become subordinate to research

b. As medical school curricula have become identical

c. As the difficulty for getting into medical school has increased

d. All of the above

Answer 1

Flexner's report the environment has changed dramatically as:

a. As teaching had become subordinate to research

b. As medical school curricula have become identical

c. As the difficulty for getting into medical school has increased

d. All of the above

Answer – all of the above

             The Flexner Report is the most important event in the history of American and Canadian medical education. It was a commentary on the condition of medical education in the early 1900s and gave rise to modern medical education.The report is named for Abraham Flexner (1866-1959) who prepared it. Flexner report assessed the entrance requirements, the size and training of the faculty, endowment fees, the quality of laboratories, and the relationship between medical schools and hospitals.

When Flexner researched his report, many American medical schools were small "proprietary" trade schools owned by one or more doctors, unaffiliated with a college or university, and run to make a profit. A degree was typically awarded after only two years of study. Laboratory work and dissection were not necessarily required. Many of the instructors were local doctors teaching part-time, whose own training left something to be desired. The regulation of the medical profession by state governments was minimal or nonexistent. American doctors varied enormously in their scientific understanding of human physiology, and the word "quack" flourished.

Flexner carefully examined the situation and given the following recommendations:

1. Reduce the number of medical schools (from 155 to 31) and poorly trained physicians;

2. Increase the prerequisites to enter medical training;

3. Train physicians to practice in a scientific manner and engage medical faculty in research;

4. Give medical schools control of clinical instruction in hospitals

5. Strengthen state regulation of medical licensure