IDEALS IN MEDICINE

Hokitika Guardian, 2 March 1929, Page 6

IDEALS IN MEDICINE

(Exchange.) Praise for the presidential address at the British .Medical Association Conference in Wellington may be expressed by saying that the doctor is the fine flower of our civilisation, and the Association in New Zealand may be congratulated on having for its head a man of so much understanding and such broad culture as Dr J. S. Elliott. 'l'lie wide range of the address, the president’s catalogue of the triumphs of medical science, his recognition of the profession’s difficulties and of the existence of a dimension not to be found in text hooks, and his eloquent plea for idealism, direct attention to the infinite importance of the doctor’s calling and to the fact that every yeai is adding to the demands made upon him. Every decade adds greatly to the knowledge he is expected to possess so that the field of his study is very much wilder than that of the practitioner thirty or fifty yeais ago. Specialisation, therefore, has been greatly developed in the profession, hut in this, as in other occupations, specialisation without a sound foundation of general knowledge is apt to be dangerous. Moreover it is often the case that the more capable a doctor is, the less time has he for professional study and the general improvement of his mm 3, for the community makes a beaten track to his door. And Dr. Elliot’s address is a proof of the value of study beyond as well as within the world of text-books. Unless we except that of the there is no calling so difficult as the .doctor’s. If this is doubted, estimates given by high authorities of the percentage of wrong diagnoses may be cited. The doctor applies science to the human body, and besides understanding its fearful and wonderful mechanism, he has to contend with the infinite variety and unpredictable P 10 * cesses of the human mind. The doctor, and especially the physician must be something of a priest as well as a physicial healer. Like the priest, he imperils his cause if he lacks humility. As Dr. Elliott says, doctors are necessarilv in a sense materialists, but the phyician can “peer into the cloudy places of the soul and see a spiritua fourth dimension.” Dr. Elliott appeals to the profession to strike a true balance between the freedom of the will and the determinism of the human body. The temptation to he materialistic in the worldly sense of the term is often strong, and a doctor who makes money his god is almost as repulsive an object as a mercenary priest. Indeed, we musst look to doctors for important help in saving the world from materialism. Dr. Elliott s faith of science, is eloquently expressed “The Golden Age is not behind, but before us.” He realises, however, the danger lies in a pursuit of science that is not informed with spiritual ideals. Science, it must be borne in mind, is destructive as well as constructive, and there is being forced on the attention of the world the question whether man will be able to control the many weapons that the conquest o Nature has given him. It is conceivable that science may master man and turn the world into a madhouse or a shambles. It will matter a great deal which side the- doctors take.