World Directory of Medical Schools

2nd edition, 314 pages. Geneva, World Health Organization, 1957. $5.00

L. W. Hackett
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This is a second edition of the WHO World Directory, now brought up to date and enlarged in coverage and scope. More than eighty countries are represented including the USSR, which was almost a complete blank in the former work published in 1953. In addition to the salient facts about each school, such as enrollment, teaching staff, fees etc., the general educational system of the country is outlined with its historical background, and the undergraduate medical training is briefly described. The ratio of physicians to population throughout the world is given in the form of a map, varying from 1:434 in Israel to 1:174,640 in Nepal. The countries are listed in alphabetic order and each is dealt with in a separate chapter; annexes 1 to 7 summarize these data by continent, and annex 8 gives the world totals.Such an analysis, in spite of unavoidable lacunae, is an important step toward a comprehensive view and understanding of the present situation with respect to medical education in the world, and provides an indication of what might be done to further its development.

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