Medicine and evolution

Three seemingly unconnected happenings.
1.  Last night, I was at dinner for PSU’s Physician Alumni, a dinner put on by the Eberly College of Science.  Interesting how lives in medicine work out.  I got a real sense of people hungry for intellectual stimulation. 
Two things stood out.  Everyone, and I mean everyone, was interested in how this course is going.  They all loved the aspiration, and immediately got the vision.  They are also very curious as to how we are trying to achieve it – and whether it is working.  I keep saying it’s too early to say….  a line that should work for at least the next few years.
The other thing was a conversation with a cancer surgeon.  We got talking because I could name the first US surgeon to successfully remove a lung*, something I learnt teaching this course.  But our conversation then meandered into evolution.  The surgeon was concerned that humans had not been around long enough to evolve into what makes us humans.  I realized after that I completely mishandled the conversation.  A problem like this needs to be better defined.  What trait(s) did he have in mind?  Everything follows from that.  We share SO much with other primates.  Lets say Homo sapiens became recognizably distinct just 100,000 years ago.  How much of what happened since is evolutionary, in the sense of genetic change? Probably not too much.  Indeed, if I had one of those first humans in my class, could I pick them out?  If they had been raised in a modern American family, I bet not.
2.  George Williams just died.  One of the first to aggressively argue that medical students and physicians need to know more evolution.  But he said even more important things.  His master peice was his 1966 book Adaptation and Natural Selection.  Oh, to think and write with even 20% of that clarity.  George, so long and thanks for all the fish.
3.  The course blog just got its first evolution post.  An impressively brave student statement.  Lets see where this discussion goes.
*The surgeon I met pointed out that for every operation there are two firsts: the first time it is attempted, and the first time the patient survives.

One thought on “Medicine and evolution

  1. RONALD DOMINICK FESTA III

    Dr. Read i would like to say that this course is awesome. Its very open and allows us to express ourselves, especially through the blogging and other use of technology. I would also like to express how it has leaned me more towards involving myself in the sciences. Im in the school of liberal arts but i would love to incorporate science into my career, whatever thats going to be.. I would have to say that this course should definitely be continued, to convince students to study science, but also provide a great gen ed science for students who arent majoring in the field

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