The past 50 years - and even the past 20 years - have seen almost revolutionary change in medical education, which has emerged as a distinct discipline during that time. The curriculum to be covered, the most effective learning and teaching methods, and what kind of professional (and indeed person) medical education is intended to produce, how success can best be assessed and - not least - the make-up of students and teachers themselves have all changed enormously. This unique text draws together a wide variety of perspectives and focuses in particular on the experiences of one of the U.K.'s newer medical schools. It examines the key changes that have shaped the field, its practitioners and its students, presenting unique perspectives on both its history and on the current state of the art. This book is rewarding and informative reading for educationalists, academics, sociologists and researchers in medical history and education. 'The education of our healthcare professionals is one of the most important challenges for higher education. In setting up the new medical school at UEA we recognised this challenge and set out to develop a method of teaching and learning that put the student and their learning needs at the centre of the curriculum. The results of this and some of the developments that have emerged from those early days are outlined in this book.' - from the Foreword by Shirley Pearce