“There have been some medical schools in which somewhere along the assembly line, a faculty member has informed the students, not so much by what he said but by what he did, that there is an intimate relation between curing and caring.”

--Ashley Montagu

“Finish last in your league and they call you idiot. Finish last in medical school and they call you doctor.”

--Abe Lemons

--William Osler

At 10/25/2006 11:01 AM, Kekam said...: Nicely said, Pontificat0r. While I agree that the P=MD saying should not allow for mediocrity, I also believe that knowledge is not necessarily proven by grades. There are people who know their stuff and will make amazing physicians, but they do not test well. I think we all know a few individuals (in undergrad, whatever) that were brilliant as far as book knowledge goes, but could they apply it? Can they think through a problem? No. There are people with B averages who may be a lot better at patient contact or differential diagnosis. Honors does not translate to good doctor.
At 10/26/2006 8:13 AM, Brad said...: Regarding P=MD, I guess it depends what you think a "P" means. If P means that you've done the bare minimum to slide by but have significant deficiencies in your knowledge base, then something is wrong with P!

P should mean that you've achieved a level of understanding and skill that meets widely accepted standards of competency. In other words, P should mean that you may not know everything, but you know enough to be a good doctor. For the most part, I think medical schools try to ensure that P means just that.

Keep in mind, too, that some students have to work very, very hard to achieve that P. And I agree that it's not just about academic competence; humanistic attributes are just as important.