Medicine is an art form rather that an scientific discipline?

Question

Do you agree with this statement?
In what ways could medicine be considered an art form and in what ways could it be considered a scientific discipline?

Thanks so much for all your help, after the BMAT exam i'll buy you all a drink xXx

Answer 1

Medicine, and nursing, are both science and art.
The science part is the knowledge base, the disease symptoms, knowing medications and their interactions and side effects, psychology of your patient, interpretation of laboratory results.
The art part is harder. The art is using the knowledge of psychology you have to determine how to best approach your patient, determine their level of comprehension, and their ability to participate in their care. Art is knowing when to speak and when to keep silent and listen. Art is trusting your 'gut' that a patient is not doing well, even though their vital signs are stable.
Art is being able to communicate in a conscise yet kind fashion to a patient and family that someone is dying. Art is taking the experiences you have had outside of medical and nursing school and enfolding them into your own personal style of communication, knowing when to use humor, and when to just simply hold a hand and tell the person that it's okay to go on.
So I guess that I disagree with the statement. Medicine is sometimes 50% science and 50% art, and sometimes it is 5% science and 95% art.

Answer 2

Yes, I think it is true. Some doctors take the time to chat, make thier patients feel comfortable and listen to what they have to say.

The patient will be able to open up more, tell the doctor more about their lifestyle, and what may have led to their present sick condition; eg- the doctor can tell that a urinary tract infection is the result of possible "newlywed cystis" if he/she knows that the patient has just been married or has just become sexually active. It could also tell the doctor what kind of treatment/presciption to give the patient if he/she knows their lifestyle; eg- if the person can take a lot of tablets during various parts of the day or is there only time for one tablet etc.

This part of the job is an art. Making people feel comfortable even in an uncomfortable situation. It could result in better overall treatment of patients. Rather than the doctor who simply treats symptoms with scientific pricision. Such a doctor may cure one bout of illness, but will not educate the patient on how to be healthier.

Also such may not take the time to explain why the patient should/should not eat/drink certain things while on a course of treatment - hence the person may not realise the importance of listening to the doctor or make intelligent choices w.r.t. their medication.

Medicine itself - knowing what treats what and what causes what is a science which no doctor can do without. But the practice of medicine is an art form that has a lot to do with people skills, the art of conversation and listening. This is what makes the difference between graduating as a doctor (with the credentials) and being a real doctor who actually helps people get better and stay better.

Answer 3

The books "the goal" by E. Goldratt and "The end of medicine" by A. Kessler offer interesting perspective on this.

They are not necessarily artists as much as they are part of a service industry. The bottleneck (specific technical term from "the goal") in healthcare is the doctor. In order to have growth in productivity in the last 20 years the "art" part of medicine has been removed with prejudice and replaced with a workload that is insane, and a very very careful balance of quantity vs. quality. The balancing edge is just before legal liability kills you, but otherwise as productive as possible.

I dont see the doctor as an artists or a scientist. I see the doctor as a human being that industry is trying and failing to turn into a production machine.

Answer 4

You are taught the science of medicine, the art is in applying it, and that comes with experience. That is why young graduates are full of science, because that is all they know. Gradually the art comes through - it looks like you are cutting corners, whereas what is actually happening is "I've seen this before, and I know what to do and how it will turn out". Experienced medics will just tell you the answer, youngsters go around the woods, but get there in the end.
I know this - I'm a vet, and it is just the same.

Answer 5

There was a time when it was thought that much of medical diagnosis and treatment could be performed by rational algorithms with computers employing "artificial intelligence". This failed utterly because medical care involves intuition, experience, pattern recognition, and inspiration. Further, most of medical practice deals with chronic illness. The goal is addressing patient's fears and expectations through empathy to achieve a desired emotional response. Like other art forms, skill comes only through long and regular practice.

Answer 6

I have to agree somewhat. Although obviously a lot of knowledge is involved in prescribing, unfortunately when it comes down to the bare bones of drug treatment and surgery a lot of it is 'try it and see' approaches i.e. clever hunches not an exact science. It might be easier to answer this question if you consider the two different aspect to a physicians role; diagnosis of disease and treatment.

Answer 7

I agree with phantomli, I was a nurse when the artificial hip replacement was pioneered by professor Charnley at Wrightington hospital in Lancashire, so I would say he was both a scientist and an artist, and also a grumpy old sod at times

Answer 8

Medicine is neither. Science is about discovering things by using scientific method. Medicine is about trying to cure sick people. Medical doctors might use knowledge gained by science but they are not practicing science.

Answer 9

treatment for a certain ailment is the science...
identifying the ailment is the art....

many ailments have similar symptoms .... distinguishing between these symptoms to arrive at a diagnosis is an art (if it were a science, each doctor would give you the same answer)

treatments are the science... those that work are prescribed , those that don't discarded

Answer 10

My dad always used to say that doctors were a way of keeping you entertained whilst nature got on with killing or curing you, so there may be some truth in it.