Hektoen International

A Journal of Medical Humanities

Tag: Evidence-based Medicine

  • Weighing medical evidence on a historical scale

    Philip WilsonPennsylvania, 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 literature searches…

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

    Richard SobelNegev, 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 of Relativity.…