TRAINING OF DOCTORS IN HOSPITALS - A COMPARISON WITH TEACHER-EDUCATION

A research project on the training and career development of postgradu ate doctors is used as the basis for an analytical and heuristic compa rison between the training of doctors in hospitals and teachers in sch ools, and on the issues of acquiring professional competence in these settings. The authors of this article conclude that there are necessar ily limits to such comparisons: the contexts, training patterns and ca reer developments of the two professions are substantially different. The comparison has, however, sharpened conceptions of apprenticeship t raining and its relation to the acquisition of propositional knowledge ; it underlines the key role of the mentor, particularly in relation t o coaching, assessment and feed-back. In particular the comparison hig hlights the need for teachers and schools to seize more firmly the lea d in the training of new recruits and their subsequent professional de velopment.