Altruism or reckless curiosity? A brief history of self experimentation in medicine

Abstract

The history of medicine has, until the last fewdecades, been an integral part of medical education.In recent years, however, the pressure for curriculartime and the increasing emphasis on measurableoutcomes and the technical aspects of medical educa-tion have led to medical history being deleted entirelyfrom most undergraduate curricula, or being reducedto an elective or optional status.While it may well be the case that the impact ofmedical history studies is difficult to define accuratelyor measure, there are cogent reasons why doctors andmedical undergraduates should be cognizant of thehistory of their profession.Knowledge of the history of medicine enables one tobetter comprehend the power, possibilities and limit-ations of medicine in a contemporary context. Byexamining even the most mundane parts of contem-porary medical life – such as the use of thestethoscope on clinical rounds