Physician21 2nd Anniversary

Dear valued friends

The first post appeared in this blog was on 12.3.2012. Two years have passed so quickly with their cares, concerns, challenges, aims and inevitable rewards. The start of the physician21 was a reaction to fulfill a feeling of responsibility and satisfy a deep concern about a newcomer to the faculty of medicine. This feeling I used to have to anyone whom I may have opportunity to help and not only to a girl living in my neighborhood. As I was planning for an introduction to studying medicine that we could not manage, I thought I would convey this modest message of passion and cooperation, of gratefulness and hope for the better through the internet facility. It has worked brilliantly as for my concern about being thankful and also as for showing me an attractive aspect of writing and inspiring persons at wordpress whom I appreciate so much.

Let’s summarize the achievements of physician21 in this first stage.

1- Emphasis on the humanitarian and social aspect of the physician.

2- Accessibility of understanding and enjoying medical practice being a treasure, a custom, a blessing, an art and a science.

3- Emphasis on the physician’s personality, values, ethics and health.

As writing may be time consuming, concern making and physically exhausting it is of the truth and the fairness to claim the interacting readers their great favor in keeping this good motive going forth.

Good day for all. 🙂

physician21

My physician is a human

It is nice to meet and know good people in a quite formal context, when customs and ethics are well applied and respected. You will like a smile, praise a shape or figure and admire a character. And so as a habit you will find somebody to like and almost find an excuse for possible light mistakes or a triviality. Sometimes, it is even more exciting to know about your idol something, but not so formal this time, as I would like to tell now about my amazing super physician. In one word I would like to shape out my physician as a mere human. A human who may have much cares about himself and about other people as well; who can make mistakes and suffer these terrible pains of conscience and self-criticism, and who may have chronic disease or very special health provisions.

And what a delicate human! My physician should train himself regularly how to help the sick so kindly and friendly without raising the least doubt or suspicion of any shortage as for medical proficiency and personal balance. Doctor’s work must be almost perfect. My physician does not like to work as much like a machine. The dehumanization technique, though logically important, is not absolutely working because my physician thinks that sharing the sick some of the pain is quite good for a guérison. My physician would experience and live inside some medical cases in a time to become quite exhausted and can’t see more cases. That is why a regular moral washout and physical and mental refreshment are very important. Not only concerned with bodily diseases, fighting infections, curing debilities, and ameliorating pains, but also and vey often sympathizing financially and engaged personally and socially.

My physician is very proud to convey a particularly beneficent message to the needy and sick people and insists to practice this job with much love and sincerity. As a mere human my physician can’t be blamed or insulted, but – on the contrary – should be honored and respected. My physician may succumb to any moral, physical or psychic concerns and devotes a whole life and resources to help fix or tame those defects or phenomena. That’s why my physician is deservedly described as mere human.

Hippocrates of Cos

As it seems to be a pressing need by humans to credit somebody with the emergence of some discipline or art, we have got many fathers: Geber of chemistry, Socrates of philosophy, Lavoisier of modern chemistry, Mendel of genetics, Alhazen of optics, Einstein of modern physics, and so on.

For medical students and practitioners, Hippocrates deserves special interest, because he is credited with the founding of the western school of medicine. Very interesting is that the father of modern medicine lived in the fifth century before Christ (460- 370 BC). The medical genius was born in the Greek island of Cos. Though the well appreciated medical texts found by that time were not only those written by Hippocrates, the honor gave to Hippocrates was not almost certainly a matter of chance. Accordingly, there could be other important physicians that helped in the establishment of a fine medical intuition as can be shown by good observation and cause-effect rationale, among which Hippocrates should have been the most eminent.

Before we go on to the astonishments of Hippocrates as the credited father of medicine, I wish to throw some light on his name that should be an old Greek word. As the name means horse power; ιππος (hippos) “horse” and κρατος (kratos) “power”, this would present an interesting proof about how one could be blessed by the meaning of the name he/she bears.

Hippocratic face, clubbing of fingers and Hippocratic bench are a few of the impressing medical contributions that are attributed to Hippocrates. The amazement seen in Hippocratic medical genius originates in the school he followed that regarded disease as a mere bodily phenomenon that is totally amenable to observation, interpretation, forecasting and treatment apart from magic or spirits (superstition). Such a medical school may have been several centuries ahead of its time as that myth-imparted picture of disease was not almost completely debunked until the 19^th century (the urea synthesis by Wӧhler, the vaccination by Jenner and the germ theory of disease by Koch) and the 20^th century (the discovery of antibiotics by Fleming).

Hippocrates’ fine medical intuition caused him to largely dispense with “the specific diagnosis”, when basic medical knowledge and research tools were lacking in that time and to adopt gentle and general rules in the medical care (a prognosis-oriented generalized therapy relying on the healing power of nature – “vis medicatrix naturae” in Latin) that suit a generalized diagnosis. For example, he generally avoided using drugs and specialized treatment except in certain occasions and gave great attention to patients’ hygiene, nourishment, exercise, rest and positioning.

Francis Adams describes Hippocrates as “strictly the physician of experience and common sense.” While Fielding Garrison says “He is, above all, the exemplar of that flexible, critical, well-poised attitude of mind, ever on the lookout for sources of error, which is the very essence of the scientific spirit.”

* This essay was written based on internet searches.