APHORISM 3 AND 4 – KNOWLEDGE OF THE PHYSICIAN | Organon Of Medicine & Philosophy

Aphorisms 3 and 4 of organon of medicine describes the knowledge or pre-requisite qualifications of the physician to restore the health of a sick person.

Word explanations

Knowledge means facts, information, and abilities gained via education or experience; the conceptual or practical comprehension of a subject.

Whereas, any knowledge or understanding needed before learning or comprehending something new is referred to as a prerequisite.

Hahnemann says,

“If the physician clearly perceives the knowledge, then he understands how to treat judiciously and rationally and he is a true practitioner of the healing art”.

In Aphorism 1 (Sec. 1) Dr. Hahnemann explains the high and only mission of the physician.

Then via Aphorism 2 he describes the highest ideal of cure.

Aphorisms 3 and 4 captures the heart of everything that is discussed throughout an entire Organon, they can be considered as the core of the Organon.

The following knowledge must be possessed by a true healer.

Table of Contents

APHORISM 3

Knowledge of disease (Aph. 5 to 18)
Knowledge of medicinal powers (Aph. 19 to 21)
Knowledge of application of drug knowledge to disease knowledge (Aph 22 to 27)
Knowledge of the choice of remedy (Aph. 153)
Knowledge of pharmacy (Aph. 264, 265, 267, 268)
Knowledge of proper dose
Knowledge of repetition of dose (Aph. 245-248, 251)
Knowledge of obstacles to cure and their removal

In order to understand the above-mentioned points, imagine a person who is suffering from pain or discomfort from past few months.

As this person observes that his suffering/disease is not going away on its own and progressing simultaneously he consults a physician.

KNOWLEDGE OF DISEASE

A consulting homoeopathic physician tries to understand

What is the complain of the patient?
What are the symptoms of disease? To which we call disease manifestations. They can be subjective (felt by patient) or objective (perceived by necked eye or physical examination).
How long he has been suffering? To find out the possible cause of the disease by history taking.
What is the pathological diagnosis of the disease? To understand the cause, severity and prognosis of the case.
What are the common symptoms of the disease?
What are the uncommon symptoms of the disease?
If there are any peculiar or rare symptoms in this patient? To individualize the patient.

Conclusion: Without the knowledge of disease a physician can not approach the patient rationally.

KNOWLEDGE OF MEDICINE

Medicines are the weapons of the physician to fight against the disease.

So, what is it in the medicine that is curative?

A true physician knows,

Source of medicine
Its chemical properties
Its physiological action on human body
Its pathological effects on human body
Curative properties of the drug substances
Method of medicine preparation
Ways of administration

Conclusion: No drug substance should be administered to a patient without the complete awareness of its properties. Selection of right drug substance comes with the knowledge of medicine.

ABILITY TO APPLY MEDICINAL KNOWLEDGE TO DISEASE KNOWLEDGE

As the physician perceives the actual nature of the disease, he has to decide the right remedy for the diseased individual.

There are several treatment methods that has been used since the ancient medicine.

History and experience teach that “LAW OF SIMILIA” is the only curative way of the natural disease.

Conclusion: A physician must be able to choose the most suitable method of treatment that is beneficial for the patient’s health.

KNOWLEDGE OF THE CHOICE OF REMEDY

After deciding the treatment method, the homoeopathic physician actually selects the medicine.

Here knowledge of homoeopathic Materia medica and organon of medicine comes to play.

Homoeopathic medicines that are written in different type of Materia medica are proved on healthy human individuals.

Physician after in-depth examination of the patient forms a disease picture (Totality of the symptoms).

Then he compares the patient’s disease picture with the medicines listed in homoeopathic Materia medica.

At last, he selects the most similar medicine with the patient’s constitution.

Conclusion: Remedy selection can be done on the basis of homoeopathic Materia medica and organon of medicine.

KNOWLEDGE OF PHARMACY

With the knowledge of homoeopathic pharmacy, the physician gets able to dispense the medicine with proper techniques.

KNOWLEDGE OF PROPER DOSE AND POTENCY

A dose is the quantity of medicine needed to cure the patient.

Homoeopathic medicines are dynamized, in this case the quality of the medicine is more important than the quantity.

Arndt-Schulz rule or Schulz’s law claims that,

For every substance,

SMALL DOSE STIMULATES

MEDIUM DOSE INHIBITS/SUPPRESSES

LARGE DOSE KILLS

Conclusion: Only exact dose selected on the basis of patient’s constitution, temperament, nature of disease, nature of medicine, susceptibility of the patient etc., can bring upon the desired results.

KNOWLEDGE OF REPETITION OF DOSE

After selection of the right remedy for the patient a physician calculates about,

How to administer the remedy?
When to administer it?
When to repeat it?
How many times to repeat it?
How long the medicine to be continued?
What to give along with the medicine?
What to expect after the administration of medicine?
Should the medicine to be stopped at once or reduced gradually?

Conclusion: All these fundamentals of remedy repetition can be understood by the study of “Posology”.

KNOWLEDGE OF OBSTACLES TO CURE AND THEIR REMOVAL

Even after the careful selection and administration of medicine there are the factors that does not allow the medicines to act and obstruct the path of cure.

Examples:

A patient with complain of cold after exposure to cold wind, he must cover or protect himself from the cold wind which causes the suffering.
A chronic smoker with complain of bronchitis will never get cured from his irritating cough if he does not stop smoking.

Conclusion: A physician must carefully observe and identify the aggravating or obstructive factors that might hinder the path to cure and advice the patient accordingly.