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Adopted by the 39th World Medical Assembly
Madrid, Spain, October 1987
and rescinded at
the WMA General Assembly, Pilanesberg, South Africa, 2006
PREAMBLE
Medical Education is a continuum of learning beginning with admission
to medical school and ending with retirement from active practice.
Its purpose is to prepare medical students, resident physicians
and practicing physicians to apply latest scientific advances
for the prevention and cure of human diseases and the alleviation
of presently incurable diseases. Medical Education also inculcates
into physicians ethical standards of thought and behaviour, that
emphasize service to others rather than personal gain. All physicians,
whatever their practice, are members of one profession. As members
of the medical profession, all physicians must accept the responsibility
for not only maintaining high personal standards of medical education
but also for maintaining high standards of medical education for
the profession. This education must be grounded in the following
principles:
PRINCIPLES OF MEDICAL EDUCATION
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PRINCIPLE I
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BASIC PRINCIPLES OF MEDICAL EDUCATION
Medical Education includes the education leading to the first
professional degree, the clinical education that is preparatory
to the practice of general medicine or a specialty and the
continuing education that must undergird the lifelong work
of the physician.
The profession, the faculties and other educational institutions,
and the government share the responsibility for guaranteeing
the high standards and quality of medical education.
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PRINCIPLE II
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UNDERGRADUATE MEDICAL EDUCATION
The goal of medical education is to educate physicians who
are entitled, consistent with their training, to practice
the profession without limitation.
The first professional degree should represent completion
of a curriculum that qualifies the student for a spectrum
of career choices, including patient care, public health,
clinical or basic research, or medical education. Each career
choice will require additional education beyond that required
for the first professional degree.
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PRINCIPLE III
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EDUCATION BY THE FACULTY
Medical Education leading to the first professional degree
must be conducted by an organized faculty. The faculty must
possess the appropriate academic qualifications that can only
be achieved through formal training and experience. The selection
of faculty should be based upon the individual's qualifications
without consideration of age, sex, race, creed, political
persuasion and national origin.
The faculty is responsible for creating an academic environment
in which learning and inquiry can thrive in a maximal way.
As such, active research to advance medical knowledge and
the provision of the highest quality of care must occur
in academic settings to demonstrate the highest medical
standards. The goals, content, format and evaluation of
the educational experiences provided are the responsibility
of the faculty with participation of National Medical Associations.
The faculty is responsible for providing its own obligatory
basic curriculum in a academic environment of freedom in
which learning and inquiry can thrive in a maximal way.
Frequent reviews of the curriculum, allowing for the needs
of the community and for input from practicing physicians
should be conducted by the faculty, to the extent that community
needs do not harm the quality of medical education. Recognition
of faculty requires that library resources, research laboratories,
clinical facilities, and study areas be available in sufficient
quantity to meet the needs of all learners. In addition,
the proper administrative structure and academic records
must be maintained. When the necessary elements are available
the clinical education of practitioners and specialists
can be sponsored by either a university or a hospital.
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PRINCIPLE IV
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CONTENT OF MEDICAL EDUCATION
The educational experience should include the study of the
biological and behavioral sciences and the socio-economics
of health care. These sciences are basic to the understanding
of clinical medicine. Critical thinking and self-learning
should also be required, as should firm grounding in the ethical
principles upon which the profession is built.
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PRINCIPLE V
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CLINICAL EDUCATION
The clinical component of medical education must be centered
on the supervised study of patients and must involve direct
experiences in the diagnosis and treatment of disease. The
clinical component should include personal diagnostic and
therapeutical experiences with gradual access to responsibilities.
An adequate relation of the numbers admitted for training
and teaching at the bedside of the individual patient must
be observed.
Before beginning independent practice, every physician
should complete a formal program of clinical education.
This program, usually of at least one year's duration, should
be characterized by a supervised increase of responsibility
for the management of clinical problems.
The faculty is responsible for determining that students
who receive the first professional degree, have acquired
a basic understanding of clinical medicine, the basic skills
needed to evaluate clinical problems and take appropriate
action independently, and have the attitude and character
to be an ethical physician.
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PRINCIPLE VI
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SELECTION OF STUDENTS
A broad liberal education is highly desirable before embarking
on the study of medicine. Students should be selected for
the study of medicine on the basis of their intellectual ability,
motivation, previous training, and character. The numbers
admitted for training must not exceed the available educational
resources and the needs of the population. Selection of students
should not be influenced by age, sex, race, creed, political
persuasion or national origin.
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PRINCIPLE VII
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POSTGRADUATE MEDICAL EDUCATION
It is desirable that the doctor takes up postgraduate medical
education following the first professional degree, and he
should make his choice between specialising for patient care,
public health, clinical or basic research, or medical education.
Formal programs of clinical education should precede the practice
of unsupervised medicine including both general medicine and
specialty. The medical profession is responsible for determining
the satisfactory completion of programs of clinical education
that follow the first professional degree.
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PRINCIPLE VIII
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CONTINUING MEDICAL EDUCATION
All Physicians are committed to lifelong learning. These educational
experiences are essential if the physician is to keep abreast
of developments in medicine and if the physician is to maintain
the knowledge and skills necessary to provide high quality
care; scientific advances are essential to an adequate health
care of the people. Medical schools, hospitals and professional
societies share the responsibility for developing and making
available to all physicians opportunities for continuing medical
education.
The demand to provide medical care, prevent disease and
give advice in health matters calls for the highest standards
of undergraduate postgraduate and continuing medical education.
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