American Medical Education 100 Years after the Flexner Report

Abstract

Medical education seems to be in a perpetual state of unrest. From the early 1900s to the present, more than a score of reports from foundations, educational bodies, and professional task forces have criticized medical education for emphasizing scientific knowledge over biologic understanding, clinical reasoning, practical skill, and the development of character, compassion, and integrity.^1-4 How did this situation arise, and what can be done about it? In this article, which introduces a new series on medical education in the Journal, we summarize the changes in medical education over the past century and describe the current challenges, using as a framework the key goals of professional education: to transmit knowledge, to impart skills, and to inculcate the values of the profession.