[Current medical curricula neglect the basic sciences]. / Te weinig aandacht voor basisvakken in medisch curriculum.

ABSTRACT

Studying the pre-clinical foundations of the medical profession sharpens the mind, improves critical thinking skills, builds academic stamina, and stimulates scientific curiosity. However, incorporation of the ever-growing clinical knowledge body into medical curricula jeopardizes the time undergraduate medical students are exposed to covering the basic sciences. In addition, clinical practice guidelines and clinical protocols lessen the importance of fostering critical thinking skills in our students. Inasmuch as mastering basic sciences demands a substantial time consuming intellectual effort, medical students prefer memorization and reproduction tasks to analysing challenging basic science questions. These three factors increase the risk of training (future) generations of doctors less well equipped to manage complex patients and lacking the essential knowledge and academic inquisitiveness to advance health care and medicine.