When I was first asked by the College to write a short article on the talk I had given earlier in the year on the history of medicine, I was initially hesitant for the simple reason that the subject was so vast to do justice to, and moreover that it had to be accessible to everyone. The diplomatic and persuasive skills of my colleagues encouraged me to write this short article on an extremely fascinating and illustrious period in the life of medicine and healthcare – the period from the 8th to the 15th century.
I am passionate about patient-centred and evidence-centred medicine, and hope to show how these principles were taken to unprecedented levels of excellence and refinedness in this period by Islamic medicine in a way that is to be seen in very few other areas of the history of medical science. When one elucidates each story in this history it can only be described by Bolt’s phrase: sophistication upon sophistication. Due to prescribed editorial limits, the article will centre on only three illustrious individuals: Abulcasis, Ibn al-Nafis and Avicenna. Firstly, the article looks at the overall contribution, and then secondly at the specific contribution and impact of these master clinicians.