Abuse of Medical Students

Abstract

To the Editor. — I have read with great interest the articles and the editorial on medical school abuse. 1-3 George B. Shaw, in a letter to Mrs Molly Tompkins, described accurately man's educational process: Education in the ways of the world is a series of humiliations, like learning to skate. All you can do is to laugh at yourself with the crowd. Perhaps the best example of the irreversible trauma resulting from attending medical school is the following: Pio Baroja (1872-1956), a foremost Spanish novelist, graduated from medical school (Madrid University) at the end of the last century. After substituting for a village physician for a few months, he quit medicine forever, becoming a prolific novelist. His most autobiographical work is the novel El Arbol de la Ciencia (The Science Tree) , in which he was extremely critical of some of his medical school professors. For over 50 years of