The Meducator, Volume 1; Issue 1 April 2001
 o Review
 
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Book Review
 
 

A Practical Guide for Medical Teachers

John A. Dent , Acting Director, Clinical Skills Centre, Dundee Medical School, Dundee, and Ronald M. Harden , Professor of Medical Education and Director, Centre for Medical Education, University of Dundee; Teaching Dean, Faculty of Medicine, University of Dundee; Postgraduate Dean, East of Scotland
ISBN 0443062730  Paperback· 466 Pages · 200 Illustrations Churchill Livingstone
Published February 2001 Price: £ 34.95
 

 A Practical Guide for Medical Teachers
 
Medical education is in an era of enlightenment. Little progress was made during the long period of the dark ages - when effective education and good teaching were thought to be inevitable in the environment of well-known medical schools. The reputation of the traditional schools was often grounded in simply having been there for a century or two, or in biomedical research success unrelated to education. It was not until new schools were established in the 1960’s and 1970’s that medical education began to flourish as an academic discipline, and Dundee has been one of the guiding beacons amongst these innovative schools. Twenty of the 25 authors who contributed to this handbook have been directly involved with the Dundee medical curriculum, and the Dundee approach is very much in evidence. 
 
This practical guide has seven sections covering the basics of undergraduate medical education, curriculum, learning situations, educational strategies, tools/aids, curriculum themes, and students/staff. The layout has wide margins on every page, giving free range for sporadic quotations or for the reader’s notes. The practicalities are often presented in point-form, without unnecessary words. There is parsimonious efficiency in the style of presentation. There is also the characteristic Dundee alliteration, for example: "Integration of the basic sciences is attainable, but needs: cooperation, consensus, common sense, commitment."

This is a workshop manual for operating a medical school curriculum and maintaining it in good running order. It covers the scope of work done by medical school staff, from selection of students for admission, through planning and instruction, to examinations and assessment. The content refers almost entirely to modern British medical schools, and there is ample discussion of recent structural developments such as community-based education, multi-professionalism, special study modules and student portfolios. Also in the British construct of medical education, where the universities have less influence beyond undergraduate medical education than is the case in North America, there is relatively little discussion of medical education beyond the medical degree. Much of the advice is generic, and applicable to all medical schools.

The medical bookstores are stocked full of texts on every variety of discipline and specialty; some are recommended or required reading for particular courses. But the shelves for books on learning and teaching are sparsely populated. This new book helps to fill the void, and is one of the few that deserves to be on the required reading list for medical teachers.

Reviewed by:
Dr. Ray Lewkonia
Faculty of Medicine
University of Calgary,
Calgary, Alberta, Canada
 
 
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