I have recently come to the uncomfortable realisation that we in the health professions education research community tend to speak out of both sides of our mouths. Not much of an insight one might say, but the discomfort arose as a result of reflecting on how easily and thoughtlessly we maintain 2 positions that now seem to me mutually incongruous. Bear with me as I try to explain. Be it through profound optimism, strategic rhetoric or simple naivete, each of us working in the field of health professions education research believes (or has at least voiced a belief) that our work will benefit society in some way. For some, the goal is to make learning more efficient or more enjoyable for students. For others, it is to discover the most appropriate conceptualisations of communication skills, interprofessional behaviour, self-regulation or [insert favourite domain here] so we can help the professional community as a whole. Others, still, aim to improve assessment methods to avoid graduating, licensing or certifying incompetent individuals. We need not spend too long a time playing the children's game of asking 'Why?' in response to every statement before most of us conclude that ultimately we are all trying to improve the health care system in some way in the hope that patients will eventually benefit from better care.
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