Is Medicine an Art or Science

Surgery or any other branch of Medicine is just not a pure Science subject, it's a beautiful and very intricate combination of Art and Science both. After spending around 30 years in world of Medical Sciences, I feel there are many aspects of this field, which are purely an art, and many are more art and less science. In the era where technology and machinery is overtaking the human touch in every field of our life, the artistic element is slowly dying in our medical field too. Yes undoubtedly science and technology has played a great great role in advancement of medical sciences, but without the artistic element involved, science alone can not heal. Without the emotional and spiritual quotient , EQ and SQ, intelligence ie IQ has boundaries.

Artistic element is deeply present from history taking to clinical examination, making diagnosis, writing prescriptions, giving counselling, operating on live human tissues and almost in every step of medical world.

Every surgery is actually a beautiful work of art mixed with highest level of science, done by the surgeon on the human tissues. A surgery is actually a Live Painting or a Live Art on a Live Canvas ( human body ) by group of scientifically trained artists : the operating team.

In medicine Art of History taking is taught and not the science of History taking. History taking is still considered to the most important and first step in arriving a diagosis and every text book of medicne calls it an Art. 

In same way , have you ever wondered why places where surgeries are done are called Operation Theatres ? From where the word theatre has come ? Actually surgery was always considered the highest form of art and the surgical team used to perform surgery on the patient, and from the gallery overhead, medical students used to watch the surgery, like a drama is watched by the audience in a theatre. So this again proves that surgey is art and science both since it's evolution. 

So if anyone says that Medicine is a Science subject, I beg to disagree with all the due respect. For me it has been a beautiful , complex yet simple, intricate combination of Art & Science. ( I don't know why but I felt to keep the Art word before ). Science can never be practiced wihout Art and vice versa is also true. Both are just two branches of the same stem with same roots.