A medical school learning environment: Views from the trenches

Abstract

In most medical schools, intellectual, interpersonal, and ethical development of students are the core constituents of statements of educational goals and objectives. Paradoxically, it may be that the dominant features of the educational environments of these schools serve to inhibit rather than encourage student development in these areas. This report describes one of a series of investigations, carried out at the Faculty of Medicine of a large Canadian university, testing the hypothesis of a mismatch between educational goals and the educational environment. In this study the perceptions of a sample of clinical teachers are described and analyzed with reference to Argyris and Schon's Model 1 and Model 2 definitions of institutional environments.