Rural and Remote 2018 — the art and soul of rural medicine

Rural doctors from across the country gathered in St. John’s in early April for the 26th Annual Rural and Remote Conference. Reminiscent of challenges that rural doctors often face in their home communities, there were delays to arrival because of gale-force winds in St. John’s, then delays on departure because of an ice storm that hit southern Ontario.

The theme of the conference was “The Art and Soul of Rural Medicine.” The art of medicine describes how we apply medical knowledge to the individual patient or community, taking into account their values and unique characteristics as well as our clinical skills. The soul of medicine can be thought of as that which gives our medical practice purpose and meaning.

In contrast, medical recommendations and guidelines are based on the science of medicine, which is considered to be more consistent and reproducible. However, as we become more aware of issues such as publication bias, we are more wary of accepting research at face value. 1 David Sackett, the father of evidence-based medicine, recognized that implementing medical
recommendations in a particular community or for an individual patient is more of an art than a science. It is influenced by beliefs and values of individual patients or communities, cost and other barriers, such as geographic, organizational or behavioural.2