Three pain points of medical schools – time for change
Authors:
Kristýna Pospíšilová 1; Josef Vošmik 1; Romana Marková Volejníčková 1; Martin Zielina 2
Authors‘ workplace:
Sociologický ústav AV ČR, v. v. i., Praha
1; 2. lékařská fakulta UK v Praze
2
Published in:
Čas. Lék. čes. 2025; 164: 333-345
Category:
Original Article
Overview
The article presents selected findings from the research project KULTIMED – Cultivation of Medicine (relationships, environment, and conditions). It is a multidisciplinary project supported by the Technology Agency of the Czech Republic (TA CR) within the Sigma program, carried out by the Institute of Sociology of the Czech Academy of Sciences (IS CAS) in cooperation primarily with the First and Second Faculties of Medicine of Charles University.
The article introduces the most important findings from a survey conducted at the beginning of 2025 at almost all medical faculties in the Czech Republic. The aim of the survey was to map the environment of medical faculties, study conditions, and the most pressing problems currently faced by medical students in the Czech context.
Three key problems include 1) organizational shortcomings of studies, 2) students’ psychological distress, 3) a very high prevalence of inappropriate behavior by teachers and other persons in the educational process toward students.
KULTIMED pursues awareness-raising, cultivation, and educational goals, which are also briefly introduced in the article. In conclusion, the article offers an overview of recommendations for each of the three identified problem areas.
Keywords:
KULTIMED – cultivating the medical environment – organizational deficiencies in medical education – students’ mental well-being – prevalence of inappropriate behavior at medical faculties
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