Predominance of the Curative Model of Medical Care

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Abstract
Despite a multitude of efforts in recent years to reform medical education, and despite the significant gains that have been achieved, some refractory problems remain. Two articles in this issue of The Journal describe persistent shortcomings in the present medical education system. Billings and Block1summarize the results of an extensive literature review of end-of-life education in medical schools, concluding that the training currently provided inadequately prepares students to care for dying patients. Christakis and Feudtner2describe anecdotal experiences of medical students and residents on inpatient services, illustrating how the transitory and time-pressured nature of that environment can have disturbing effects on trainees' ethical development. On the face of it, these two articles may seem to have little in common. On a deeper level, however, these articles share a common theme: Both can be construed as serious critiques of medical education's prevailing overemphasis on a curative model of