The Missing Piece in Medical Training: Wisdom
by Shai Madjar, M.D., Ph.D.; Mary Blazek, M.D. | November 11, 2025
Article Citation: Plews-Ogan ML. Changing the Paradigm: Practical Wisdom as True North in Medical Education. J Med Philos. 2025 Mar 20;50(2):133-146. doi: 10.1093/jmp/jhae048.
What is this article about?
In this article, the author proposes that wisdom should be the “true north,” or the guiding ideal, of medical education. “Medicine is hard.” Being an excellent physician requires so much more than just medical knowledge and procedural skill – it requires wisdom and virtue. Yet because medical knowledge and procedural skill have been easier to measure in medical training, wisdom and the virtues have been de-emphasized. The author suggests that now, with the emergence of new scientific understandings of how the virtues can be developed, it is possible to re-structure medical training around the ideal of cultivating wisdom in medical trainees. The author illustrates different ways in which scientific research into the virtues can inform a possible curriculum for fostering wisdom, intellectual humility, compassion, and self-regulation. She identifies possible practices and systemic changes that could foster wisdom as a guiding ideal in medical education.
Why should you read the article?
Any educator working with medical trainees must reflect at some point on the goals and purposes of medical training. What kind of physicians are we trying to train? If you believe that we should train physicians that are not just knowledgeable, but also wise and virtuous, then you should read this article to find not only a thoughtful defense of this claim, but also a possible framework to approach this.
How can you use this article?
You can use this article as an initial springboard for thinking more critically about what medical training should be. You can draw on this perspective in discussion with other educators when considering curriculum design or changes in the training experience. Additionally, you can draw inspiration from some of the evidence-based suggestions in the article for how to cultivate wisdom and other virtues in your medical training program.
Review Authors: Shai Madjar, M.D., Ph.D.; Assistant Clinical Professor of Psychiatry and Assistant Program Director in Ambulatory Psychiatry, University of Michigan Medical Center, Ann Arbor, MI (Co-authored with Mary Blazek, M.D., University of Michigan Medical Center). Organization: Association of Directors of Medical Student Education in Psychiatry