DISCIPLINE AND POWER IN MEDICAL EDUCATION: A FOUCAULDIAN CASE STUDY OF BS ANESTHESIA STUDENTS AT SUPERIOR UNIVERSITY, LAHORE

Abstract

This study investigates power relations in the context of anesthesia training by applying Foucault’s conceptualization of power to analyze how institutional authority and supervision shape student’s learning. Identifying medical education as a systematic environment where power and knowledge combine, the study explores how power in disciplines develop professional identities of students. The study is quantitative based, and a questionnaire was used as a survey tool to collect data from students of anesthesia. SPSS statistics software was used to conduct reliability analysis of the survey, its findings are in the numerical form, and only descriptive frequencies were evaluated, which is about applying Michel Foucault’s concept of power to examine how power operates in educational contexts and clinical trainings. The type of sampling technique used in the study is convenient and random sampling. The results reveal that dynamics of power in anesthesia training operate not only in the assessments or monitoring but also behavior formation. The study is significant for providing deep insights into power dynamics within anesthesia educational contexts. The work contributes in highlighting power relations and use of authority in educational environment.