La problématique de la distance dans la formation des médecins.

Introduction: Students and physicians consider graduate education too theoretical and too disconnected from real life, from the needs of future professionals and from society. Considering that medical teaching has distanced itself from its object we explored the multidimensional nature of the gap. Analysis: Maintaining a critical eye while recognizing the efforts made and the successes, we successively examined the distance of medical education with respect to the human body, the distance between theory and practice, the distance with respect to a population’s health needs, the distance with respect to the biopsychosocial model, the distance with respect to chronic diseases, and lastly the distance between teaching and learning. Conclusion: This review, which borrows from the history of medicine and medical education, has no other claim but to foster a debate. It is also an invitation to better understand how distances detrimental to the competence of future physicians are built up and maintained. It is an issue medical education could resolve.