近代醫學教育推動者：Abraham Flexner

談醫學教育必定要提Abraham Flexner之貢獻，Abraham Flexner是個具有時代使命感的教育家，他認为美國當時的高等教育正快速走上墮落之路，必須改善，Flex-ner終其一生奉獻所有時間在教育改革，Flexner堅信人類可經由教育及研究来改善自己的生活及提高人類之文化水準。他生於美國南方肯塔基之小康家庭，父母重视傅統文化及價值及子女之教育問題，19歲畢業於Johns Hopkins大學，23歲创辦私立學校，實踐其教育理念，1908出版The American College一書，隨即接受卡内基基金會邀請評鑑美國155所醫學院，他評鑑醫學院標準为：1.入學條件2.老師之名額及素質3.經費4.實驗室設備5.醫學院與醫院之關係。1910年評鑑結束後，發表震驚美國及世界的Flexner's報告，導致美國醫學教育全面改革，1916年出版A Modern School一書，促進美國慈善家捐款给大學之熱潮，1913-1928加入洛克非勒的General Education Board推動大學教育及黑人的大學教育。1930出版著名的universities一書，影響美國大學教育超過70年，最後Princeton設立學者的天堂-Institute for Advanced Study，讓傑出的科學家更自由自在無憂無慮下從事研究，Flexner终其一生熱愛他的工作，全力以赴改善美國及世界的大學教育，其貢獻影響近代醫學教育近百年與當時的哈佛校长Lawrence Lowell(1909-33)及芝加哥大學的Hutchins(1930-51)同为偉大的教育家，是近代醫學教育改革之巨擘。

關鍵字

醫學教育； Abraham Flexner ； Flexner報告；高等研究所

並列摘要

Abraham Flexner was born in 1866 into a close German Jewish family in Luisville, Kentucky, USA. At age of 19, he graduated from Johns Hopkins University and having earned his Bachelor's degree. In 1908 he wrote his first book, ”The American College”. He then joined the research staff of the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. After visiting every medical schools in North America during 1910, he wrote a report, ”Medical Education in the United States and Canada”, which is generally called the Flexner Report. This report had a most profound influence on medical education in US and throughout the world. He looked at five specific areas of medical education during his visits to 155 medical schools in US and Canada. These areas included: entrance requirements; size and training of faculty; sum of endowment and fees; quality and adequacy of laboratories and teachers, and relations between the medical school and the hospital. The criteria identified are still the essential requirements in the modern medical college. In 1916 he published the book ”A Modern School” and this led to the endowment of the experimental Lincoln School of the Columbia Teachers' College, which was a pioneer among university education for several decades. From 1913 to 1928 Flexner worked for the General Education Board, which had been established by Rockefeller in 1902. During this period he was at firstinvolved to projects assisting Negro educational institutions and in helping Southern states to develop statewide systems of secondary education. In 1930 Flexner's ”Universities” was published. The book continues to be one of the great books in the field even after more than seventy years. Flexner ended his professional life at the Institute for Advanced Study, which was created at his instigation in 1930.Flexner also was a great fund-raiser. His success in raising large sums of money from Andrew Carnegie, John D. Rockfeller, J.P. Morgan, Julius Rosenwald, and other philanthropists of the day was also highly significant. Flexner firmly believed that men could shape their own affairs, direct their lives toward a desirable future, and that research and education were the major instruments of such an endeavor. He thought of himself not as a philosopher, but as something of a practical idealist with enthusiasm for the feasible. He believed that we are masters of our fate. Perhaps no name in medical education is as familiar to physicians today as that of Flexner. He is mentioned in countless talks around the world every year. It seems that speakers are unable to begin discussing medical education without referring to the Flexner Report. Abraham Flexner was one of the greatest medical educators in the history.

並列關鍵字

medical education ； Abraham Flexner ； Flexner report ； Institute for Advanced Study

參考文獻

Flexner A(1910).Medical Education in the United States and Canada, A Report to the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.