The State of Medical and Health Care Education: A Review and Commentary on the Lancet Commission Report

• Date: 01 April 2012
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1515/1948-4682.1219
• Published date: 01 April 2012

Volume 4, Issue 1 • 2012 • Article 9

The State of Medical and Health Care Education: A Review

and Commentary on the Lancet Commission Report

David Gordon, World Federation for Medical Education

Hans Karle, World Federation for Medical Education

Gordon, David and Karle, Hans (2012) "The State of Medical and Health Care Education: A Review

and Commentary on the Lancet Commission Report," World Medical & Health Policy: Vol. 4: Iss. 1,

Article 9.

©2012 Policy Studies Organization

DOI: 10.1515/1948-4682.1219

The State of Medical and Health Care

Education: A Review and Commentary on the

Lancet Commission Report

David Gordon, World Federation for Medical Education

Hans Karle, World Federation for Medical Education

Abstract

Medicine and the other healing arts advance through new knowledge, improved practices, and

increasing engagement with their responsibilities to the patients and societies that they serve. Does

the education of doctors and other healthcare professionals lead in these changes, or does it follow?

Failures in education are often blamed for defects in health care systems. The Lancet

Commission Report on Education of Health Professions for the 21st Century, published in late

2010 (Frenk et al. 2010), argued that education needed transformation to meet the needs of health

systems.

This commentary argues that there is not a general crisis in education of health professions.

Education often leads, rather than follows. Problems in healthcare require engagement by

politicians and decision makers in a concerted and coordinated plan for capacity building in

education, and for targeted solutions to problems of inadequate resources. Health professionals, and

education systems, should continue to lead and innovate, through initiatives for the improvement of

institutions and programmes.

KEYWORDS: medical education, health professions education, healthcare

Author Notes: Conflicts of interest: None declared. Corresponding author: David Gordon. Email:

gordoncph@gmail.com.