Toward Scientific Medicine

ISBN-13: 9783319016702 / Angielski / Twarda / 2013 / 183 str.

O. S. Miettinen

Opis

Scientific medicine in Miettinen's conception of it is very different from the two ideas about it that come to eminence in the 20^th century. To him, medicine is scientific to the extent that it has a rational theoretical framework and a knowledge-base from medical science. He delineates the nature of that theoretical framework and of the research to develop the requisite knowledge for application in such a framework. The knowledge ultimately needed is about diagnostic, etiognostic, and prognostic probabilities, and it necessarily is to be codified in the form of probability functions, embedded in practice-guiding expert systems. In these terms, today's medicine still is mostly pre-scientific, and major innovations are needed within and around medicine for healthcare to get to be in tune with reasonable expectations about it in this Information Age. Thus, while the leading cause of litigation for medical malpractice in the U.S. is failure to expeditiously and correctly diagnose the probability of myocardial infarction in a hospital's emergency room, this book shows that a typical modern textbook of cardiology, just as one of medicine at large, imparts no knowledge about the diagnostic probabilities needed in this, and that the prevailing type of diagnostic research will not produce the requisite knowledge. If the diagnostic pursuits in an ER would be guided by an emergency-room diagnostic expert system, this would guarantee expert diagnoses by all ER doctors. Academic leaders of medicine and medical researchers concerned to advance the knowledge-base of medicine will find a wealth of stimulus for thinking about the deficiencies of the prevailing knowledge culture in and surrounding medicine, and about the directions of the needed progress toward genuinely scientific medicine.

Recenzje

From the reviews:

"This is a book for all educators of medical students and trainers of residents. ... This book is profoundly thought-provoking. It clearly outlines the good and the less effective aspects of the current medical literature and research and offers great insights into how medical education could benefit from a course correction to encourage thinking on a wider epidemiological scale. ... This is a valuable book for every teaching and training center library." (Vincent F. Carr, Doody's Book Reviews, March, 2014)

Spis treści

Foreword. Preface. Acknowledgments. On medicine’s bonds with science. Part I  The knowledge-base of medicine at present. 1 The daunting needs for knowledge. 2 the necessary forms of the knowledge. 3 the knowledge according to its source. Part II  Whither from here? 4 needed innovations of the knowledge culture. Part III  Medical science for scientific medicine. 5 Original research for scientific diagnosis. 6 original research for scientific etiognosis. 7 original research for scientific prognosis. 8 Derivative research for scientific gnosis.  9 From gnostic research to gnostic knowledge. Epilogue. Index of persons. Glossary.

Blurb

Scientific medicine in Miettinen’s conception of it is very different from the two ideas about it that came to eminence in the 20^th century.  To him, medicine is scientific to the extent that it has a rational theoretical framework and a knowledge-base from medical science.  He delineates the nature of that theoretical framework and of the research to develop the requisite knowledge for application in such a framework.  The knowledge ultimately needed is about diagnostic, etiognostic, and prognostic probabilities, and it necessarily is to be codified in the form of probability functions, embedded in practice-guiding expert systems.

                In these terms, today’s medicine still is mostly pre-scientific, and major innovations are needed within and around medicine for healthcare to get to be in tune with reasonable expectations about it in this Information Age.  Thus, while the leading cause of litigation for medical malpractice in the U.S. is failure to expeditiously and correctly diagnose the probability of myocardial infarction in a hospital’s emergency room, this book shows that a typical modern textbook of cardiology, just as one of medicine at large, imparts no knowledge about the diagnostic probabilities needed in this, and that the prevailing type of diagnostic research will not produce the requisite knowledge.  If the diagnostic pursuits in an ER would be guided by an emergency-room diagnostic expert system, this would guarantee expert diagnoses by all ER doctors.

                Academic leaders of medicine and medical researchers concerned to advance the knowledge-base of medicine will find a wealth of stimulus for thinking about the deficiencies of the prevailing knowledge culture in and surrounding medicine, and about the directions of the needed progress toward genuinely scientific medicine.