Medicine as a Scholarly Field

As modern medicine is constituted by its many specialties and subspecialties, this raises the question, what educational content should all these disciplines have in common? The author's premise is that a suitably scholarly modern philosophy should be the modern counterpart of the Hippocratic philosophy that was at the root of the genesis of modern medicine. Such a philosophy should be pivotal in ‘the medical common’. Much needed but still missing is, he says, such an introduction to medicine at large; the author takes on the challenge of providing it.

In this spirit the author develops, as only a genuine scholar of medicine can, fundamental concepts and principles of medicine that are relevant to each of the differentiated disciplines. The author reveals what truly is medicine through his learned and carefully-considered definition, supplementing this with an outline of the route to excellence as a doctor and to consequent happiness as a professional. This book is essential reading for physicians, clinicians, clinical researchers and epidemiologists, as well as medical students.