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Medicine -- the best way forward

17 August 2005

Staff, students and alumni joined in lively debate last week to assess the priorities and challenges facing Monash's medical course.

The inaugural Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences Great Alumni Debate, 'Medical education today: what are the priorities and are we meeting them?', examined new methods of patient-centred learning against the traditional focus of medical courses -- anatomy and basic sciences.

In 2002, Monash changed its medicine degree to a five-year course with greater emphasis on patient-centred learning, where, rather than spend hours in lectures on traditional subjects, students now take a holistic approach, focusing on patients and their problems.

The dean of the Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences, Professor Edward Byrne, presenting his view on medical education, said Monash was one of the last medical courses in Australia to undergo these changes. He assured students they would be well equipped for practice when they graduated from the Monash course and that it was constantly under review.

Professor Byrne said under the old teaching system, students entered their clinical years with a great deal of scientific knowledge that had often seemed irrelevant while they learned it.

The Monash course was a hybrid combining the best of a traditional approach with self-directed learning, he said.

Professor Byrne stressed his commitment to retaining the basic medical sciences as a priority in medical education at Monash.

"The way forward is the middle road -- taking the best of the new courses and the best of traditional courses and merging them together in the one course," he said.

The debate was well attended by staff and students, with several students commenting on the personal satisfaction they were getting from their course.

Debate facilitator and Monash University alumnus Dr Sally Cockburn said medical education was constantly evolving and always attracted attention.

"In its infancy, centuries ago, there was public outrage at the notion of anatomy teaching techniques where medical students dissected cadavers," she said.

"These days, there is heated debate over whether there is enough time within the current courses around the country devoted to the study of anatomy.

"Monash has a reputation for producing high-quality medical practitioners, so it's important for us to continue to debate the issues in order to ensure the course is the best it can be."