The terms relevance and irrelevance are extremely difficult to define, since they are relative. They depend largely on the knowledge available at a given time and on the orientation of the individual educator
During our education and professional careers, students and educators will never know what is relevant and what is irrelevant. Relevant facts may disappear and irrelevant facts may emerge as relevant as new information becomes available. The switching of the relevant to the irrelevant and vice versa in the light of scientific advances affects the magnitude of relationships between facts learned in medical school and their implications in practice . 1
1. Vogel, W.H., Ph.D. Relevance of “Irrelevant” Facts in Medical Education: The Value of Basic Science Teaching for Later Medical Practice. Academic Medicine Vol. 68: February Supplement. pp. 27-28, 1993.