Perhaps medicine should now be considered a trade

Editor—After 35 years of dealing with medical students and residents as programme director, the greatest recent deficiency in applying educational theory in practice seems to be personal entitlement and the lack of autodidacticism.¹ I think that we must start in high schools and colleges (if not earlier) to motivate thinking and cognitive curiosity in order to be successful.

I have used case based learning for 10 years, but I still find among students a general lack of enthusiasm in each student group critique of the tutorials.

Is it too much work for them?

Are we still missing the goals by our antiquated curriculum?

I do not have the answer, and I will continue to apply the systems that appeal to adults. However, I recognise that today's students have emerged from a culture of entitlement, grade inflation, and medical schools that seem more afraid of negative criticism from students than of professors' concerns for the lack of intellectual pursuit.

Perhaps medicine should now be considered a trade and not a profession.