Medicine and the Nature of Vertical Reasoning

During any commencement season, it is likely that at least one medical school graduating class will be favored with an address on "The Art and Science of Medicine." No wonder, since this serves as a springboard for introducing a variety of engaging medical topics.1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 Yet, although in many ways modern medicine resembles a science, it continues to be criticized for its lack of unifying theories, and for this reason alone its claim to being a science has remained suspect. The cognitive problem facing the physician is how to take the available clinical data in a given case, which are disparate . . .