The role of behavioral sciences in the Hungarian and international medical education: overview and possibilities

The unilateral bio-medical approach cannot be effective in the prevention and effective treatment of chronic disorders of great epidemiological significance, because the behavioural risk factors are strongly influenced by psychosocial factors too. After the change of the political system in Hungary the most important step in curriculum development was establishing the institutes of behavioural sciences. However, the share of behavioural sciences nowhere exceeds 3% of the curriculum. Yet it has an important role in bridging the gap between the natural and social sciences. Built on the firm basis of natural sciences, the behavioural sciences complement this foundation with aspects of social sciences which emphasize the psychological needs of the patients as well as the psychosocial determinants of health and diseases. The most significant field of behavioural sciences is medical psychology but according to the latest reports on medical education development communication, medical sociology, medical anthropology and bioethics have become increasingly important disciplines in developing medical competence. These fields are organized into an integrated process, arching over the six years of medical training. The present paper gives an overview of the situation and perspectives of teaching behavioural sciences at medical universities.