Hektoen International

A Journal of Medical Humanities

Tag: Evidence-based Medicine

  • Weighing medical evidence on a historical scale

    Philip Wilson Pennsylvania, United States   In 1992, a clinical discipline emerged under the name Evidence-based Medicine (EBM). Now well-known, EBM refers to the “conscientious, explicit, and judicious use of current best evidence in making decisions about the care of individual patients” (Sackett). Clinical expertise is combined with newly supported biomedical evidence obtained through systematic…

  • “(W)holistic”: the coining and the connotations

    Richard Sobel Negev, Israel   Origin of the term Jan Christian Smuts (1870-1950)—general, statesman, twice Prime Minister of the Union of South Africa, and philosopher, published his political treatise, “Holism and Evolution,” in 1926. It is said that Albert Einstein thought Smuts was one of only eleven people in the world who understood his Theory…