Medical Education and Manpower in the EEC : Proceedings of a Symposium organized by Fondazione Smith Kline at Stresa, Italy, 1-4 October 1982

Front Matter....Pages i-xi Medical demography: A looming issue. The case of Italy....Pages 1-13 Medical demography, medical education and the EEC....Pages 15-31 Discussion....Pages 33-42 Admission to the study of medicine in Belgium....Pages 43-52 What level of academic achievement and what personality characteristics should intending medical students possess?....Pages 53-57 Discussion....Pages 59-76 The objectives of basic medical education: I....Pages 77-79 The objectives of basic medical education: II....Pages 81-87 The objectives of basic medical education: III. The Maastricht principle....Pages 89-96 Discussion....Pages 97-113 Medical needs and the availability of doctors: Conditions in French regions....Pages 115-122 How can the numbers of doctors required to satisfy the health-care needs of a population be defined?....Pages 123-128 Realities in health manpower planning in The Netherlands....Pages 129-138 Discussion....Pages 139-153 Principles governing training programmes for individual specialties in medicine: I....Pages 155-162 Principles governing training programmes for individual specialties in medicine: II....Pages 163-166 Discussion....Pages 167-179 Medical audit: I. Is it needed and how should it be done?....Pages 181-186 Medical audit: II....Pages 187-195 Discussion....Pages 197-208 Continuing education in medicine: I....Pages 209-214 Continuing education in medicine: II....Pages 215-221 Discussion....Pages 223-231 Closing Session — Summary....Pages 233-242 Back Matter....Pages 243-250 Many of the issues that have become sources of increasing concern to the medical profession throughout Europe of late have been those relating to medical demography and medical education in the broadest sense. When the Advisory Committee on Medical Training in Europe was established by the EEC some 10 years ago, it became evident that there was considerable variation in the programmes of undergraduate medical education established by the various member countries; and even more particularly, striking discrepancies became apparent in relation to procedures concerned with the admission of students to medical schools and university faculties of medicine. Thus some member countries had for many years adopted a programme of strict control on medical-school entry according to academic and other criteria, in order to make certain as far as possible that the facilities available for training were adequate to educate the students admitted, and also in order to restrict the output of doctors so as to bear some relationship to the healthcare needs of the country. By contrast, in other countries no such numerus clausus had ever been operated, since the political view was strongly held that all young men and women who were capable (according to their school performance) of benefiting from medical education, should be given that opportunity. The result of this policy had been a massive increase in the number of students studying medicine and in the output of doctors. There was also evidence that the increasing establishment of health-care programmes controlled both administratively and financially by government had imposed some restriction upon the development of health services in certain countries, with consequential fears of medical unemployment and wastage of skilled medical manpower, expensively trained usually at public expense. In the European scene, too, significant differences had emerged in relation to the philosophy, content and duration of programmes of training in individual specialties in medicine. The Stresa symposium, held in October 1982 through the inspiration and initiative of the Fondazione Smith Kline and its Director, Dr Ghetti, brought together a number of experts from many European countries to discuss these problems and to propose some solutions relating to the entire field of medical demography, medical economics, health-care development and education, at x Preface both the undergraduate and postgraduate levels. In each session, opening contributions were given by a medical educator on one hand, and by a medical administrator or health-care economist on the other. The extensive and well-informed discussions that followed were recorded and edited. The result, we believe, is a publication of considerable importance and topicality which will be of major interest to doctors throughout Europe who either play some part in medical education at a particular level or who are involved in the organization and planning of health services, as well as to those who are involved in committees concerned with the regulation and delivery of medical education, not only in the EEC, but also throughout Europe. The book should also be invaluable to health-care economists in bringing to their attention medical views as well as those of their colleagues upon controversies of the moment. Hopefully, too, it will appeal to a wider international audience since many of the problems exposed in this volume are being experienced in all developed and develop ing countries.