The following article is the second in a series of eight, which together constitute the report of a two and one-half year Survey of Postgraduate Medical Education by the Council on Medical Education and Hospitals of the American Medical Association. The survey included a questionnaire study of a large random sample of practicing physicians as well as detailed analyses of the postgraduate courses offered by the numerous sponsoring institutions and organizations. The first article, entitled "Scope and Extent of Postgraduate Medical Education in the United States," appeared in THE JOURNAL Feb. 26, 1955, page 703.
Physicians are a unique group educationally, but within the group itself there are numerous subgroups that combine to make postgraduate medical education a most complicated educational endeavor. In this article these unique characteristics will be delineated, and ways of meeting the problems they raise will be suggested.
UNIQUENESS OF THE PHYSICIAN-STUDENT
The practicing physician differs