Aptitudes and medical education in dark times. Part II

Abstract

This part II considers participatory education (PTE) and its implications for medical education. The PTE is respecting passive education a radically different form of understand and practice education at all levels, medical education included. The core assumption of the PTE is the existence of cognitive potentialities inherent to all people, secularly inhibited or ignored that upon their release, lead to liberating knowledge. The epistemological bases of PTE are: the idea that knowledge is a development of each student; the concept of criticism as the key cognitive strategy of such development; and life experience as the primary subject of reflection and cognition. Premises and characters of PTE are specified, especially the methodological and practical aptitudes that aim to create a formative experience in people to develop unprecedented cognitive powers capable of overcoming degradation attributes (passivity, individualism, consumerism, competitiveness) and approaching to a hospitable and inclusive world. The feasibility of PTE in medical education under adverse conditions is considered, such as the degradation of medical practice and the central role of passive education, both of which involve stubborn resistance to a change of course. Two components of PTE are pointed out: learning that promotes the understanding of the life experience and the encouragement of nurturing environments for criticism, whose feasibility may represent the turning point to another kind of medical education. In the end, the role of practical aptitudes both clinical and educational is highlighted towards the progress of medical education activities and health care.