Medicine is a science, but healing is an art….. Of what stuff are good physicians made? He should be sympathetic, but not condescending; analytical, but not critical; detached, but not indifferent; enquiring, but not inquisitive; knowledgeable, but not dogmatic; human, but not emotional. Good diagnosis is an art. As the physician listens to the story of the patient, a very delicate mental process is set in motion.
He puts the facts in correct places. His mind races back to look for parallels in his treasury of past experience. He compares facts, accepts or discards them, tries to form patterns and to give shape, trying to solve a mental jig-saw puzzle. He is careful that a premature shape is not given to the jumble of facts. Slowly, very slowly sometimes, a nebulous shape is formed, and then as the mental process continues, newer information flows in during the clinical…
