Unit 8Section 5 Exercise 15 Medical Uncertainty

David Loxtercamp, "Living Conditions: The Art of Surviving a Life in Science"

Click here to read Loxtercamp's essay. This is a complex meditation on the actual practice of medicine, which is quite different than the scientific knowledge that underlies it. I purposely don’t say ‘that drives it,’ because in this essay the driving force of medicine is the messiness of everyday life and human nature.

Study Questions

1. What is it about life in medicine that leads Loxtercamp to the final anecdote?

2. What does the final anecdote say about how medical decisions get made? Name the factors that guide Loxtercamp’s clinical advice to his patient. Should he have acted differently?

3. How does the scenario at the beginning of the essay reflect the experience of the seasoned clinician? Why would it be unlikely that this scenario would be written, as is, by a medical student?

4. Is the writer jaded? Drawing on the description of his own experience, that of John Sassall in A fortunate man, and the lessons learned from the story of Scott’s polar expedition, what are the pros and cons of practicing primary care medicine?