Workshops 2014-15

Workshops 2014-15

Medical training, student experience and the transmission of knowledge, c.1800-2014: new foundations and global perspectives

Centre for the History of Medicine in Ireland, University College Dublin
17-18 October, 2014
Funded by the Irish Research Council New Foundations Scheme
Keynote speaker: Professor John Harley Warner (Yale University)
Click here for the provisional programme
To register, please email Laura Kelly at (opens in a new window)laura.kelly@ucd.ie by 3 October

This two-day symposium will examine the theme of medical training and education, broadly conceived, (and incorporating allied medical and scientific specialisms), with the overall aspiration of broadening our understanding of the changing experiences of students and those undergoing medicoscientific training in a variety of institutional and international settings in the modern period.

Given recent concern about standards of medical education and training, the symposium is timely. For example, in 2009, the HPAT (Health Professions Admissions Test) was introduced to Irish medical schools. This multiple-choice test measures candidates' emotional skills, in an attempt to ensure that candidates for medical schools possess high degrees of empathy. The conference will provide historical context to such changes, assessing how ideas about what makes a ‘good’ medical student/doctor have changed over time. Related to this, participants will assess how medical education has adjusted over time to cater to the changing relationship between doctor and patient, as well as addressing the changing representations/behaviour of students. Historians of medicine have shown how medical student experience can vary widely and how educational experiences have been significantly shaped by national contexts. The conference aims to explore this idea through an examination of education and training in a range of environments. Participants will explore the history of medical training through an evaluation of how medical knowledge and the hallmarks of professional identity have been transmitted to students over time as well as looking at the development of tools of training, curriculum and pedagogy. Other aspects of medical student life and culture such as student involvement in sports clubs, student societies and other social activities will also be explored.

The conference is funded by the generous support of the Irish Research Council’s New Foundations Scheme. There will be no conference fee and we endeavour to contribute towards travel and accommodation expenses. Please contact Dr Laura Kelly at (opens in a new window)laura.kelly@ucd.ie for more information. It is hoped that a selection of the conference papers will be published as chapters in an edited collection following the symposium. Click here for a PDF version of the provisional programme.