Medical Education, Holism & Metaphysics - the Big Picture

     Bruce Wilson PhD eloquently and persuasively "sought to identify some weaknesses in the way difficult concepts are managed within medical education, by analyzing them through the prism of a metaphysical explanation. This has revealed some systematic reasons for the shortfall in explanatory power, but more importantly, it has allowed an attempt at a systematic solution to that shortfall. It is not recommended that medical education be substantially altered in the direction of explicit metaphysical theorizing, but it is suggested that having a more systematic approach available, with explicit reference to the nature of that approach, can assist in the understanding of the difficult concepts reviewed here: holism, medical uncertainty, personhood and reflective practice. The fact that an analysis of holism provides tools to illuminate the difficult concepts is not only heartening; it is a practical example of holism in action."

       Wilson B. Metaphysics and medical education: taking holism seriously. J Eval Clin Pract 2013; 19(3): 478-84.

Dale Chihuly   http://www.chihulygardenandglass.com/