“Anecdotal Evidence”: Why Narratives Matter to Medical Practice

I want to tell you a story.

After a lecture I gave recently at a well-known medical school on the possible utility of narrative to clinical practice, from the back of the auditorium came the first question of the traditional question and answer portion of the program: “Don't you feel, Dr. Campo, that what you seem to regard as the arrogant biomedical science model of medicine is already sufficiently under attack these days?”

As the lights came up, I could make out a tall, bearded man in a long white coat, standing as if at attention near the end of one of the aisles. “We have creationists trying to teach ‘intelligent design’ in our children's science classes, and even closer to home, nurses and optometrists being given the right to prescribe medications.” Their applause having ceased, my audience now grew hushed as he went on, his voice steadily rising.

“Do you really expect physicians to accept the notion that what any ignorant patient tells us about his disease should carry a weight equal to what our years of training and expertise reveals to us about complex pathophysiology?” Then came what was clearly meant to be his coup de grace, delivered in an almost derisive tone. “Really, sir, do you have anything more than the anecdotal evidence you shared to support your thesis?”