The Flexner Report: Medical Education in the United States and Canada-A Report to the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching

The improvement of medical education cannot therefore be resisted on the ground that it will destroy schools and restrict output: that is precisely what is needed.

-Abraham Flexner, The Flexner Report (1910)

The Flexner Report-Medical Education in the United States and Canada (1910) by Abraham Flexner is the foundation for medical education today. The report was developed to investigate American medical schools and provide standards for them since few guidelines were in place in the early twentieth century. The American Medical Association contracted with the Carnegie Foundation to conduct the study and chose an educator, Flexner, as its leader. The author personally visited over 150 medical institutions and, in some cases, harshly described the conditions which consequently forced the closure of numerous schools. This book-length report is an intriguing read for anyone curious about the foundations of medical education.