As an aside, one can hope that the AMA’s use of “he” was meant to
include all physicians, male and female.
With the expanded role of the physician as acknowledged by the
AMA, new voices from the giants of medicine can be heard. From
the multitude, two examples are chosen for review. One example
pertains to the physician and patient relationship, and the other
example deals with the physician’s social relationship. Sir William
Osler (1849-1919), who is considered by many to be the father of
specialty training in internal medicine, offered: “The good physician
treats the disease, the great physician also treats the patient who
has the disease.” And, a much-needed word for the 21 st century
physician can also be heard from the renowned 19 th century pa-
thologist, Rudolph Virchow (1812-1902). “For if medicine is really
to accomplish its great task, it must intervene in political and social
life. It must point out hindrances that impede the normal social and
functioning of vital processes and effect their removal.”
Professor Virchow’s call for an expanded role for the physician in
19 th century Germany is also a clarion call for the current American
physician to become involved in needed social change.
The young ask, as always, why listen to the past? The Roman
stoic philosopher, Lucius Annaeus Seneca (4BCE – 65CA), wrote:
“If one does not know to which port one is sailing, no wind is
favorable.” This is another way of saying that if one does not know
where his road is going, any road will get him there. Conscious
listening to learned voices of the past is one way of identifying one’s
“port,” one’s “road,” or one’s professional destination. Or, as noted
by Sir Winston Churchill: “The farther backward you can look, the
DOCTORS' LOUNGE
farther forward you are likely to see.” History, and the voices that
make history, provide a roadmap for understanding both from
where we are coming from and where we are going. In addition,
in the words of a favorite history professor (the late Ralph Lynn of
Baylor University): “In studying what people have said and done,
the thoughtful student learns about himself.”
In an effort to note the value of medical history and to encour-
age the current physician to “listen” to the “voices” from the past,
I began this article with Hippocrates of Kos, and I think it appro-
priate to end with Aristotle. “Excellence is an art won by training
and habituation. We do not act rightly because we have virtue or
excellence, but we rather have these because we acted rightly. We
are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then is not an act but a habit.”
Excellent habits in the medical profession that have been reviewed
in this article (strict professionalism, discipline, honesty, “do no
harm,” clear communication, person - directed treatment, and social
involvement) have, in part, come down from the past. Only a small
sample of the voices from the past Giants of Medicine have been
cited; and there are yet near-unlimited other historical examples
for review (it is incumbent that one listen).
As a final note, although not intended, this article may be con-
strued to show a Western bias. However, it is well known that medical
history is replete with valued voices also from the East. This report
only reviews a fragment of the “many;” the reader is encouraged
to explore. Because, “It’s what you learn after you know it all that
counts.” (John Wooden)
Dr. Lloyd is a retired pulmonologist.
JULY 2019
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