Abstract

Medicine is an ‘Art& a Science’ was the first thing that we were taught in Medical College UG curriculum. However, as we moved along, the thrust of the teaching was only on the science part of Medicine. The art part of Medicine was never taught in a structured manner. So, half of Medicine was actually not, part of the curriculum. It was learnt by observing our teachers & seniors. The sad part is that over the decades, the art of Medicine appears to have faded away or may be, it has acquired a different colour. Both the components of Medicine (Art & Science) are dynamic. They are expected to change with the passage of time & the everchanging world. We need to examine their journey across decades to see if there is a conscious need for some course correction. The authors have, out of their experiences & observations, divided the study into 3 phases – the past (i.e., the last 2-3 decades of the last millennium), the present (i.e., the first 2-3 decades of the present millennium) and the future (i.e., the subsequent decades yet to come). Of course, there are overlaps but they are being ignored for the sake of simplicity.

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