Re-humanizing Medical Treatment

By: Naomi Sharman

Observation, the long-standing basis of science, seems to be taking a backseat in today's medical community -- a change that is harming patients.

I was misdiagnosed in one of the best
hospitals in the country

I came home from a Christian proselyting mission to the East Coast when I could no longer walk well and had a collection of other severe symptoms.

I thought I was dying.

Before I came home, I was hospitalized in a Johns Hopkins satellite hospital. I was tested for multiple sclerosis, a brain tumor, and Lyme disease. After ruling out multiple sclerosis with the final MRI, the doctor started talking to me as if I were a kindergartner: "Can you come in for bi-weekly visits with a psychiatrist?" I could tell from her tone of voice that she wondered if a nut-job would know the meaning of bi-weekly.

Observation and Truth

We live in a world where we have literally just about every piece of information that we could need in the palm of our hands.  (Literally. We all have smartphones).  And not only that, but the information that we can find is usually valid and has some sort of evidence to support it.  This practice of having information that is backed by evidence is a product of the Enlightenment period, which has greatly shaped the world that we live in today.

Before this time period, of course individuals sought growth and learning.  After all, that’s what the Renaissance was all about.  However, it was during the Enlightenment that people started looking for validity in the information flowing around.  

There was a man by the name of Francis Bacon in this time period of the Enlightenment who was known for being a philosopher over the scientific method.  He is well-known for his thoughts regarding observation and truth. He made the following statement

“Man, being the servant and interpreter of Nature, can do and understand so much and so much only as he has observed in fact or in through of the course of nature.  Beyond this he neither knows anything nor can do anything.”


This quote marks a crucial turning point where people began looking to science for answers.  It was no longer as common to accept thoughts and theories without any evidence or observation.  This was a huge leap in progress for the world, and because of it, we have access to so much free flowing information that can be validated through evidence.

Image credit: by Frans Pourbus