What Philosophy for medical Education? Theoretical Issues in Practice

Continuing the international debate on teaching philosophy to non-philosophers, we discuss why and how philosophy of sci- ence should be included in the training of young physicians. We detail what philosophy contents and tools should be de- livered, stressing that professional philosophers should teach what biomedical students actually need. Some successful ex- amples of philosophy courses in Italian Medical Schools are presented, in the light of which we argue that jointly consid- ering research issues, training initiatives, academic curricula and institutional and organizational constraints can effectively foster a rethinking of the role philosophy can play in medical education – a role which might impact positively the future of both philosophy and biomedicine.