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Medical education is critically important to the evolution of medicine as a whole. The physicians’ education is ongoing throughout medical school and career, and buried within the sheer volume of physiologic and medical knowledge is truly an art—that which balances science and humanity, policy and morality, and reminds physicians that healing is just as important as treating. The art of medicine is often assumed to be something you learn along the way, rather than seen as itself an intangible force that stemmed from the minds and practice of those who came before MRIs, retrovirus vaccines, and stem cell research. This blog will explore the origin of core medical teachings that are an integral part of the foundation of the art of medicine. We will investigate some of the most profound contributors to the medical humanism: those who provide the tenets that form the basis for how to practice medicine in a professional and balanced way. Considered will be many of the great historical clinicians—those whom most medical students and physicians know a little about—yet have significantly shaped the ideals in clinical medicine including: Hamurabi, Plato, Hippocrates, Osler, Peabody, Schweitzer and others. This qualitative review is not meant to be comprehensive, but rather thought provoking.
I invite you to join me on a monthly basis to explore how we as physicians, young or old might make the transition from technician to healer.