“The physician’s high and only mission is to restore the sick to health, to cure, as it is termed”

Hahnemann's Organon Of Medicine

APHORESM: 1

“The physician’s high and only mission is to restore the sick to health, to cure, as it is termed”

Dr. Hahnemann is (was) the man who believed in “Art of healing” not the “Art of physic” (drugging). This simply means Hahnemann considered a physician to be:-


(a) Diagnostician:
Physician should be able to diagnose the nature of disease, its degree, severity, cause & various prognoses. He should be able to classify disease under categories like- curable & incurable, reversible & irreversible, whether the disease is curable by medicine or need some surgery.

(b) Prognosticator:
Physician has to give prognosis to the patient or to his relatives as required.

(c) A preventive & a public health officer or Disease preventor:
Physician must notify the patient & his relations whether the disease is contagious or not i.e. it can spread thro’ contagions or infections or not. Physician has to supply the required instructions to peoples seeking advice regarding prevention of health.

(d) A medico- legal jurist:
Physician is the only person who can help in criminal cases related to medical health of a person i.e. if a man dies & a foul is suspected then physician can play a critical role in making statement.

But, in-spite of all this, the chief burden or duty of physician is to cure the ill man, the sick i.e. Heal him.

Hahnemann, for the first time pointed that physician must talk but after performing his first & the foremost duty i.e. curing the sick.

What we are reading today is the translation of Hahnemann’s original writing, done by either Dr. C. W. Wheeler or Dr. Dudgeon.

Dr. Wheeler translated aphorism: 1 as “The physician’s highest & only calling is to restore the sick to health, which he called Healing.”

Dr. Dudgeon translated aphorism: 1 as “The physician’s high & only mission is to restore the sick to health, to cure, as it is termed”

Dr. Wheeler used the term “CALLING” to emphasis on the professional duties of the physician.

Dr. Dudgeon used the term “MISSION” to give religious favors to Hahnemann’s writing. May be because as Hahnemann was the catholic & dedicated his whole life to homoeopathy like a Bishop in church.

In other words we can say Hahnemann worked on homoeopathy like any other religious saint with reckless & inspired zeal amounting to the fanaticism, in-spite of the exaggerating work, discourage & rejections from the society.

Hahnemann truly worked on homoeopathy like a mission, & this is what he wants from all the physicians, i.e. to dedicate them for the purpose of curing the sick to health.

Dr. Wheeler & Dr. Dudgeon both used the word “ONLY” to narrow down the duties of physician to that of therapeutics. With this word only they all made clear that beside of the fact that physician is suppose to perform many duties toward the society & mankind, but on the top of all is the duty to “CURE SICK TO HEALTH.”

Curing sick, means curing the man who is sick not his body or a tissue. As Hahnemann considered health & state of disease as not a material aspect but spiritual i.e. immaterial life principle which is integrated with body & mind in the human. The state of ease is health & state of disease is the sick state which is nothing but altered state of health. And the way of altering the altered state of a healthy man, back to the state of ease is known as cure.

Therefore, high & only mission /aim/calling/objective/goal of the physician is to treat the sick man, in order to bring back his flaired up state, back to health.



Published In: "Homoeopathy for All"; Vol. 4 No. 40 April 15 2003.