The status of medical education: a medical student's viewpoint.

ANY EDUCATIONAL PROCESS INVOLVES FOUR DISTINCT STAGES: the selection of goals, the selection of learning experiences, the organization of these experiences and the evaluation of achievement. If the results of evaluation are unsatisfactory, then the goals were unrealistic, the learning experiences were inadequate, or the experiences were poorly organized.The characteristics of the good physician and the recognition of these in candidates for medical education are matters of great interest. Does a student learn because he has good teachers or because he has proper motivation for success? Is it possible for one to teach another, and if so, what is the best technique of instruction? How can the student best be evaluated?Medical education is in a state of rapid change, but changes of significance will not occur until the quality of the teachers is improved and the barriers of departmental organization are removed, thus putting the students' instruction in the hands of persons unbiased by concentration on a small field of endeavour.