Perspective: Should we amputate medical history?

This Perspective article, a cri de coeur, argues that a modicum of medical history should be incorporated into the compulsory medical curriculum. Many medical schools have no formal teaching in the subject, and students can thus graduate without the slightest knowledge of their profession's history. The author argues that, aside from holding intrinsic interest, a knowledge of the history of medicine can provide students with a sense of perspective and connectedness with the past, better judgment and reasoning, a healthy dose of humility, a deeper understanding of professionalism, greater emotional maturity, and a more critical approach to contemporary medicine. The author provides several concrete illustrations of the value of medical history to clinical practice. In answer to the rejoinder, "to replace what?" the author proposes "a little part of medical ethics," and points out that both disciplines share much in common and can be usefully combined. Finally, the author address the challenges of the proposal to incorporate medical history in the curriculum, in particular the difficulty of finding suitable teachers.