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Personal and professional development: a mind of one's own

Robin Downie
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.7861/clinmedicine.4-4-332
Clin Med July 2004
Robin Downie
University of Glasgow
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Abstract

One of the aims of both postgraduate and undergraduate medical education is to help doctors to think for themselves, or to have minds of their own, in the complex process of interpreting evidence and adapting it to fit individual patients. But phrases such as ‘thinking for oneself’ or ‘having a mind of one's own’ conceal an important ambiguity. The ambiguity is between the process of developing independence of mind and that of developing individuality of mind. Medical education overstresses independence of mind at the expense of individuality of mind. But both processes are necessary for personal and professional development. The humanities have a role to play in correcting the balance.

  • communication
  • evidence
  • medical education
  • personal and professional development
  • randomised trials
  • © 2004 Royal College of Physicians
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Personal and professional development: a mind of one's own
Robin Downie
Clinical Medicine Jul 2004, 4 (4) 332-335; DOI: 10.7861/clinmedicine.4-4-332

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Personal and professional development: a mind of one's own
Robin Downie
Clinical Medicine Jul 2004, 4 (4) 332-335; DOI: 10.7861/clinmedicine.4-4-332
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