Towards the Reflexive Medical School: the hidden curriculum and medical education research

In this article it is argued that the agenda and culture of reform about teaching and learning in UK medical schools needs to be underpinned by a similar liberalisation of medical education research, and in particular by the fostering of more interpretative and reflexive research paradigms. The authors draw upon the sociology of medical education to illustrate how the key tensions inherent in the professional socialisation of doctors-between 'objectifying' and 'humanising' currents-construct and limit both the capacity to change medical schools and the capacity for medical schools to understand themselves. By illuminating the parallels and interactions between the contests that lie behind curriculum and research the authors indicate one possible way forward.