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Rpesce1's avatar

A few comments regarding education; in my opinion exposure to the humanities has gone decidedly downhill. Of course I realize that this is a complaint of each generation senior to the present. However I think the downhill slide is accelerating. In my own experience, I was exposed to much in the way of humanities, both in high school and later college. I was a Biology and Chemistry major and headed to Medical school. My college curriculum and student advisors that even as science majors we we going to be exposed to serious thinking in the humanities - in effect they said that is is good you are majoring in the sciences but you came to this place to be educated in civilized thought. This is what occurred. So I had 4 years of minors in philosophy, theology and literature, art and foreign language.

Over the course of my career in medicine it was definitely the humanities courses that came to bear most significantly (being competent in the sciences was a given, expected by the medical school professors) for the patients. The word patient literally means the one who suffers. This requires a compassionate response and a willingness to listen. It also requires the recognition that the relationship is unbalanced meaning that the patient is the supplicant in the therapeutic relation. Ethical thinking and action is required on the healer’s part. I did get a masters degree in ethics.

All of the above was given to frame my opinion that today’s education schema is severely lacking. Few students arrive in medical school with sufficient breadth of knowledge of what is significant for people in need. Today’s students are highly facile with technologies but are they aware of the ethical implications no matter the field they enter?

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Rpesce1's avatar

A very explanatory introductory essay David! Thanks!

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