An interpretative review of a Spanish pioneering doctoral thesis (1855) about the need of travels to complement medical education

Abstract

Abstract: The purpose of this work is to inquire into the background of medical education by reviewing a Spanish doctoral thesis from 19th century which highlighting the current interest of the topic of medical education travel. This study is an interpretative review of an academic document doctoral, a thesis entitled “The need for travels to complement medical education” defended at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Madrid in 1855. It is a text of 21 pages available digitally. The thesis is a panegyric of travel as a complement to medical education based on previous readings on the topic, observations, and possible personal experiences. It provides a number of reasons to justify the desirability of educational travel as a complement in the medical education of physicians and nurses. Although this is a case study (a doctoral dissertation) and despite the antiquity of the proposals, they are still valid today. The compilation of a series of guidelines included in the thesis can help the medical traveler seeking to improve his or her professional skills. So then medical education travel has a complementary but necessary function with several practical implications that could still be considered today. Therefore, the medical education travel should not be a mere vacation trip as advised in the recommendations that the Bologna process has sponsored for mobility programs for students and graduates.

Keywords

• Antecedents of medical education; educational travels; doctoral thesis; 19th century; interpretative review