Medical Education and Practice

Abstract

Educational units convert green manpower into professionally competent manpower. This conversion is inefficient in terms of production of services or new information. Educational units are efficient producers of manpower but inefficient producers of services. Community hospitals provide service with trained manpower. Whenever they try to become prime converters of manpower, they become inefficient in service. New categories of trained manpower should be produced by the educational system to support doctors practicing in community hospitals. Duke University is now training physician's assistants to give the practicing doctor the opportunity to build a more flexible clinical support system. The doctor is given an education that should prevent his becoming technologically obsolete: [1] preparation to function as a citizen, [2] language preparation, [3] skills in problem-solving, and [4] application of known knowledge to medical practice. Traditionally, bioscience has been used for [2] and [3]. System engineering, information sciences, law, business administration, and economics are also suitable for [2] and [3]. Our profession would profit if the education of doctors were not so obligatorily coupled to its bioscience base.