Why has philosophy been eliminated from the pre-medical education?

Question

It seems to me that philosophy is paramount in truly understanding the human body. Hippocrates of Cos advocated a complete medical education of empirical science and theological studies. I may not agree with injecting theology in medicine, but it certainly seems philosophy is quite consequential in the development and progression of the health sciences. Why then has the pre-medical education omitted such philosophy courses as the philosophy of ethics and the philosophy of science?

Answer 1

hmmm.. i agree with you it seems strange. but i guess they didnt think it was necessary for a doctor to study philosophy

Answer 2

The belief is the philosophy started the understanding of the human body, but since that was started long ago it is no longer necessary.  The fact of the matter is that so many different types of thought can be used to come to solutions to even medical problems that to leave this out may end up being detrimental to us.  However, we can only speculate, since there's no way to be entirely sure of how much a specific type of thought has helped secure certain advances.

Answer 3

I minored in chemistry and in philosophy. Years later I re-read my philosophy notes and scanned two of the books I kept, and they were almost incomprehensible. It seems to me that in most philosophy courses I took, they crammed a week of material into a whole semester. In others it was just the opposite. One Thomistic refuted Kant and Hume in one lecture, Hegel, Engels and Nietzsche  in the next. Gimme a break!

Personally, I did like natural philosophy and I think ethics very important for physicians, although some give lip service to its principles.

But to address your question, philosophy is very subjective, and what one professor professes may vary significantly from another. Universities under a religious aegis may have slants that support their credos and refute others. That is the opposite of what is now called science.

Answer 4

are you a med student? or do you hang around doctors?

if you did then you'll realise that philosophy is thouroughly useless, because you get your principles during your practice and if you go against the eithics of medicine like most doctors, then all those principles have gone to waste...

why study something you're either going to learn anyway or not going to follow eventually