Emedinews:Insights on Medicolegal Issues:World Medical Association Declaration on Principle-Undergraduate Medical Education & Faculty

The goal of medical education is to educate physicians who are entitled and consistent with their training to practice the profession without limitation. Medical Education leading to the first professional degree must be conducted by an organized faculty and the faculty must possess the appropriate academic qualifications that can only be achieved through formal training and experience

• The first professional degree should represent completion of a curriculum that qualifies the student for a spectrum of career choices, including patient care, public health, clinical or basic research or medical education. Each career choice will require additional education beyond that required for the first professional degree.
• The research to advance medical knowledge and the provision of the highest quality of care must occur in academic settings to demonstrate the highest medical standards.
• The content, format and evaluation of the educational experience provided are the responsibility of the faculty with participation of National Medical Associations.
• The faculty is responsible for providing its own obligatory basic curriculum in an academic environment of freedom in which learning and inquiry can thrive in a maximal way.
• Frequent reviews of the curriculum, allowing for the needs of the community and for input from practicing physicians should be conducted by the faculty,
• The proper administrative structure and academic records must be maintained. When the necessary elements are available the clinical education of practitioner and specialist can be sponsored by either a university or a hospital.

(Adopted by the 39th World Medical Assembly Madrid Spain, October 1987)