A Medical Student's Response

Abstract

The author, a clinical student at a London teaching hospital, agrees with Ian Kennedy's contention in the BBC's 1980 Reith Lectures that medicine does not serve the best interests of the majority of people. He believes, however, that the medical profession is not to blame; the fault lies with a society in which economic growth takes precedence over health promotion. Like Kennedy, he thinks that medical students are shortchanged by an emphasis on laboratory work and neglect of ethical training which leaves them poorly equipped to redefine the physician's role and deal with new moral problems arising from technological developments. (KIE abstract)