Science of practising medicine

DOCTORS have always been men and women of science. While no definitive timeline exists, it is possible to point to two distinct eras in medicine.

The first is the “expert-based medicine” era whereby doctors learned by observing their own patients and applying that knowledge to treat future patients. They also passed on their knowledge to their juniors. However, their juniors had no way of verifying that knowledge. Medical education was by apprenticeship and not by inquiry. Knowledge had to be accepted as is.