Includes bibliographical references and index

Introduction: the echoing of medical humanism -- The doctor, the patient, and the hospitals of the 1950s -- Academics and medicine in the 1960s -- The golden age that wasn't: the 1970s and 1980s -- The assault on clinical education -- Sacrificing the patient on the altar of industrialization -- De morte medicinae -- Missing the forest for the granularity -- Where have all the physicians gone? -- Medical professionalism in the twenty-first century -- Enlightenment at the end of the tunnel: guideposts for future physicians

"Nortin Hadler places current efforts to reform medical school curricula and residency programs in historical context, tracing the evolution of medical school curricula, residency and fellowship programs, and clinical practices and examining crucial junctures to locate the seeds for reform. Some believe that medical education and training should highlight literature, ethics, and culture, while others emphasize science and efficiency to abbreviate the time from entry to licensure. In practice, neither of these approaches maintains or improves patient care, which, Hadler argues, should be at the core of medical education and practice"-- Provided by publisher