Reductionism in medicine: some thoughts on medical education from the clinical front line

Abstract

In clinical medicine, a balance needs to be struck between reductionism (the view that a system can be fully understood in terms of its isolated parts) and holistic complexity appreciation (the view that the whole may not be discernible from knowledge of its parts). Reductionism, which currently is associated with renaming of old well-established ideas, minimizes the reality of complexity in patients with several diagnoses. Holistic complexity appreciation on the other hand may encourage unscientific assessments. A balance between the two needs to be maintained if the needs of students and patients are to coincide.