Proto-professionalism and the dissecting laboratory

Henry B. Slotnick, Sean R. Hilton

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

This essay argues for medical students' dissection of cadavers because this activity offers medical students opportunities to have certain experiences and reflect on them in ways facilitating their development of mature medical professionalism at the time they enter clinical practice. Issues central to professionalism as we envision it are (1) cognitive abilities identified as reflective judgment and principled ethical reasoning as they are exercised in four practice domains and (2) learning to learn in medical settings. We argue further that a key feature of such setting is practitioners' having to deal with ill-structured problems, and so we identify their features and relate their management to the sophisticated cognitive and learning abilities required of medical professionals.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)429-436
Number of pages8
JournalClinical Anatomy
Volume19
Issue number5
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2006

Keywords

  • Gross anatomy
  • Learning
  • Medical education
  • Professional competence
  • Professionalism

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Proto-professionalism and the dissecting laboratory'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this