THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD: DR. SEMMELWEIS’ CASE STUDY An example of the scientific method in action can be found in the work of Ignaz Semmelweis, a Hungarian doctor who lived in the early-to-mid-1800s. He was appointed to a ward in Vienna’s most modern hospital, the Allegemeine Krankenhaus. He noticed that in his ward, patients were dying at a rate that far exceeded that of the other wards, even the wards with much sicker patients. Semmelweis observed the situation for several weeks, trying to figure out what was different about his ward as compared to all others in the hospital. He finally determined that the only noticeable difference was that his ward was the first one that the doctors and medical students visited after they performed autopsies on the dead. Based on his observations, Semmelweis hypothesized that the doctors were carrying something deadly from the corpses upon which the autopsies were being performed to the patients in his ward. In other words, Dr. Semmelweis exercised the first step in the scientific method. He made some observations and then formed a hypothesis to explain those observations. Semmelweis then developed a way to test his hypothesis. He instituted a rule that all doctors had to wash their hands after they finished their autopsies and before they entered his ward. Believe it or not, up to that point in history, doctors never thought to wash their hands before examining or even operating on a patient! Dr. Semmelweis hoped that by washing their hands, doctors would remove whatever was being carried from the corpses to the patients in his ward. He eventually required doctors to wash their hands after examining each patient so that doctors would not carry something bad from a sick patient to a healthy patient. Although the doctors did not like the new rules, they grudgingly obeyed them, and the death rate in Dr. Semmelweis’s ward decreased significantly! This, of course, was good evidence that his hypothesis was correct. You would think that the doctors would be overjoyed. They were not. In fact, they got so tired of having to wash their hands before entering Dr. Semmelweis’s ward that they worked together to get him fired. His successor, anxious to win the approval of the doctors, rescinded Semmelweis’s policy, and the death rate in the ward shot back up again. Semmelweis spent the rest of his life doing more and more experiments to confirm his hypothesis that something unseen but nevertheless deadly can be carried from a dead or sick person to a healthy person. Although Semmelweis’s work was not appreciated until after his death, his hypothesis was eventually confirmed by enough experiments that it became a scientific theory. As time went on, more and more data were gathered in support of the theory. With the aid of the microscope, scientists were able to characterize the deadly bacteria and germs that can be transmitted from person to person, and the theory became a scientific law. Nowadays, doctors do all that they can to completely sterilize their hands, clothes, and instruments before performing any medical procedure. 5 Basic steps of scientific method used in this case study Application 1. Observation 2. Statement of the problem 3. Hypothesis 4. Experimentation 5. Conclusion

THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD: DR. SEMMELWEIS’ CASE STUDY An example of the scientific method in action can be found in the work of Ignaz Semmelweis, a Hungarian doctor who lived in the early-to-mid-1800s. He was appointed to a ward in Vienna’s most modern hospital, the Allegemeine Krankenhaus. He noticed that in his ward, patients were dying at a rate that far exceeded that of the other wards, even the wards with much sicker patients. Semmelweis observed the situation for several weeks, trying to figure out what was different about his ward as compared to all others in the hospital. He finally determined that the only noticeable difference was that his ward was the first one that the doctors and medical students visited after they performed autopsies on the dead. Based on his observations, Semmelweis hypothesized that the doctors were carrying something deadly from the corpses upon which the autopsies were being performed to the patients in his ward. In other words, Dr. Semmelweis exercised the first step in the scientific method. He made some observations and then formed a hypothesis to explain those observations. Semmelweis then developed a way to test his hypothesis. He instituted a rule that all doctors had to wash their hands after they finished their autopsies and before they entered his ward. Believe it or not, up to that point in history, doctors never thought to wash their hands before examining or even operating on a patient! Dr. Semmelweis hoped that by washing their hands, doctors would remove whatever was being carried from the corpses to the patients in his ward. He eventually required doctors to wash their hands after examining each patient so that doctors would not carry something bad from a sick patient to a healthy patient. Although the doctors did not like the new rules, they grudgingly obeyed them, and the death rate in Dr. Semmelweis’s ward decreased significantly! This, of course, was good evidence that his hypothesis was correct. You would think that the doctors would be overjoyed. They were not. In fact, they got so tired of having to wash their hands before entering Dr. Semmelweis’s ward that they worked together to get him fired. His successor, anxious to win the approval of the doctors, rescinded Semmelweis’s policy, and the death rate in the ward shot back up again. Semmelweis spent the rest of his life doing more and more experiments to confirm his hypothesis that something unseen but nevertheless deadly can be carried from a dead or sick person to a healthy person. Although Semmelweis’s work was not appreciated until after his death, his hypothesis was eventually confirmed by enough experiments that it became a scientific theory. As time went on, more and more data were gathered in support of the theory. With the aid of the microscope, scientists were able to characterize the deadly bacteria and germs that can be transmitted from person to person, and the theory became a scientific law. Nowadays, doctors do all that they can to completely sterilize their hands, clothes, and instruments before performing any medical procedure. 5 Basic steps of scientific method used in this case study Application 1. Observation 2. Statement of the problem 3. Hypothesis 4. Experimentation 5. Conclusion

Biomedical Instrumentation Systems

1st Edition

ISBN:9781133478294

Author:Chatterjee

Publisher:Chatterjee

Chapter20: Medical Safety

Section: Chapter Questions

Problem 2RT

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