Sunday 5 March 2017

The most important paper I ever published | Edzard Ernst

WARNING: THIS POST IS NOT ABOUT ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE

My first ever scientific paper, a spin-off from my MD thesis, was published exactly 40 years ago. Since then, I have written many more articles. Readers of this blog might think that they are all on alternative medicine, but that is not the case. My most cited paper is (I think) one which combined my research in haemorheology with that in epidemiology. Yet, I would not consider it to be my most important article.

So, what is my most important publication?

It is one that relates to the history of medicine.

How come?

In 1990, I was appointed as chair of Rehabilitation Medicine at the University of Vienna. On the occasion of the official opening of the new 2000-bed university hospital in Vienna, I was asked to say a few words and thought that a review of the history of my department might be a fitting subject. But I was wrong. What I discovered while researching it turned out to be totally unfitting for the event; in fact, it contributed to my decision to leave Vienna in 1993. I did, however, summarize my findings in an article – and it is this paper that I consider my most important publication. Here is its abstract:
Misguided by the notion that the decline of the German race would be prevented by purifying “Aryan blood”...
Read on: The most important paper I ever published

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