Following an introductory chapter of some medical disasters he has encountered, Tim Koelmeyer outlines a definition of medicine and the philosophy that underlies the study of medicine. The book concludes with an outline of the teaching developed at The Breakfast Club.
In Part 1 (“Are all doctors jackasses”) I outline a number of cases where misdiagnoses were made, resulting, in some instances, death. Chapters 1 to 4 then consider instances when bone and joint pain in children were misdiagnosed with fatal consequences, followed by cases of chest pain, abdominal pain, and pain in the head. In each instance the reasons for the error are considered and methods given to avoid these errors. In Part 2, the definition of medicine is given and the ethical and philosophical underpinnings of the practice of medicine considered. In Part 3 the systems devised in the decades of teaching in The Breakfast Club are outlined.
Readers interested in how the The Breakfast Club came about are referred to my autobiography “A Life in Two Lands.”
Tim Koelmeyer
The Study of Medicine 