Observe, record, tabulate, communicate. Use your five senses. Learn to see, learn to hear, learn to feel, learn to smell, and know that by practice alone you can become expert.
William OslerRead
The young physician starts life with 20 drugs for each disease, and the old physician ends life with one drug for 20 diseases.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Knowledge and experience lead to a simpler, more effective approach in medicine and life.
This quote by William Osler highlights the contrast between the complexities of a novice's approach to medicine and the wisdom gained through experience. As a young physician, one may feel the need to rely on a multitude of treatments for each condition, while an experienced physician finds that understanding the core principles allows them to address many ailments with fewer, but more potent remedies.
Themes
WisdomMedicineExperienceHealthSimplicity
In practice
Example use cases
In a health seminar, to emphasize the importance of experience in treatment.
More from William Osler
All quotes βThere is no more difficult art to acquire than the art of observation, and for some men it is quite as difficult to record an observation in brief and plain language.
William OslerRead
One of the first duties of the physician is to educate the masses not to take medicine.
William OslerRead
No bubble is so iridescent or floats longer than that blown by the successful teacher.
William OslerRead
Let each hour of the day have its allotted duty, and cultivate that power of concentration which grows with its exercise.
William OslerRead
Medicine is a science of uncertainty and an art of probability.
William OslerRead
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