The Bologna process, medical education and integrated learning

The Bologna Declaration, signed in 1999 by all European Ministers of Education and currently in a phase of active implementation in Europe, specifies a three-cycle degree structure - Bachelor's, Master's, Doctorate - for all disciplines in Higher Education. The application of this model to medical education has been opposed on various grounds. In particular, a 'Ba/Ma' model for undergraduate medical degrees has been viewed as undoing recent progress towards fully integrated learning of basic and clinical medical sciences. However, this can be overcome by the use of a learning outcomes framework, agreed at European level, that reinforces the primarily medical nature of both degrees and which requires integrated teaching, learning and assessment at every stage. With this proviso, application of the Bologna principles to medicine can help to drive educational development and quality enhancement in European medical education.