The Basics and the Sophistication: A Country Doctor and the Art of Grandma Moses

[摘要] A picture of a doctor doing rounds in the countryside seems very distant from science, and yet even with all the achievements of biomedicine, the image of a doctor seeing a patient remains a very powerful symbol. It represents seminal interface at which medical science is adjusted to the individual's needs. For centuries, medicine has been seen as both science and art. In the technological era, the “art” stands for the judgment, skills, and experience of the physician. To describe them in formal terms would require a complex mix of natural sciences, social sciences, and humanities. The issue is that each of these domains is normally explored by a separate community of specialized scholars.There is a certain tension between “hard” medical science and the “softer” aspects of medicine that deal, for instance, with perceptions of illness and care: this tension surfaces periodically in discussions on medical education. It is just part of the wider issue of the relationship between science and the humanities. It was brought to light in the 1950s by C.P. Snow in the Rede Lecture, entitled “The Two Cultures and the Scientific Revolution,” which he delivered at Cambridge University (1). The …

[学科分类] 过敏症与临床免疫学