Vasyl Yakovych Danylevskyi's lecture medical education and its reform (1921): annotated translation

Abstract

In press

In his lecture for first-year medical students in the early 20^th century, the prominent scientist Vasyl Yakovych Danylevskyi shared his views on medical education and its reform with future physicians. The author noted that while ancient medicine had a mystical character, the training of 20^th century physicians was conducted exclusively through intellectual means. However, according to Danylevskyi, such training remained imperfect and was closely tied to school education. In this case, the primary task of school education was to develop the capacity for serious systematic work, intellectual growth, and discipline necessary for higher education. Until the 1860s, teaching at medical faculties followed old, unchanged curricula. Then young scholars brought a fresh stream of European science thanks to the 1863 University Statute, which granted broad autonomy to universities for improving young doctors' training. However, the negative impact of the subsequent 1884 University Statute nullified previous achievements in medical education development. The medical faculty proved more sensitive than others to the increased role of the school district trustee and university rector, who was now appointed by the Minister of Public Education. Of course, real power lies in people, not in statutes, declarations, or circulars. Give a good statute to people unprepared for the task, and there will be no order. It's not just the seed that affects germination, but also the soil where it's sown. Therefore, the main task of higher education is to select worthy candidates for departments who could reform medical education. We must abandon the illusion of creating any perfectly correct reforms while ignoring real-life conditions, traditions, skills and preparation of participants with their domestic and psychological characteristics.

Keywords: medical faculty, statute, physician training.