Preventive Medicine: Back to the basis

Medical students seems to have lost a grip on history. I was in my community medicine lecture 2 days ago, and was surprised that not even one of us had our history right.

The general belief is that as medical students, aint suppose to be our thing. But I was so wrong. Dr Chucks, our community medicine consultant and lecturer, tried to explain the importance of knowing our history. His exact words were,in"You have to know where you are coming from, know exactly where you are now, then you can know where you are going to".

 Apart from the fact that i have heard this proverb been used else where, i thought i could relate with it, as it was ad rem to the topic in question. Medical history is so important to medical students and practioners that if we let our knowledge of it fade away, then we may are on that steepe slope to extinction as professionals.

After my lecture on that day, i began to understand and see the wisdom in inserting history and evolution of medicine in our community medicine scheme of work. It should be thought with equal enthusiasm, as when we were thought the act and science of Ebola virus disease control.

It is my belief that my lecturer and consultant, Dr Chucks, did justice to the topic on that day; history and development of preventive medicine in Nigeria.