NATURE AS HEALER

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23332, 26 October 1937, Page 10

NATURE AS HEALER

GREATER THAN DOCTORS “Medicine is still an art more than a science,” says the New Zealand Medical Journal, “ and Nature is still greater than the physician as a healer, but lay people incline to give all the credit to the physician and are apt to be influenced in their judgment by the occasional dramatic case. “ The popular estimate of a doctor frequently is at variance with the estimate of his colleagues, and no doctor ever succeeds as a consultant unless his colleagues are satisfied that he is worthy. The profession invariably demands a high standard within its own ranks, and it soon acquires an accurate knowledge of an individual’s diagnostic and therapeutic abilities, his ethical standards and his willingness to place service before self. “ The question whether any consideration should be given to academic qualifications is an important one. Apart from the fact that only the keenest men are likely to acquire a higher qualification, and experience has shown that they are not deterred by financial considerations, it is obvious that the study involved and the contact with the leaders of the profession abroad add considerably to a man’s equipment and provide a solid foundation on which to build from future experience. The lack of this fundamental training is rarely if ever overcome.”