Mycopathologia 153: 13, 2001. 2002 Kluwer Academic Publishers. Printed in the Netherlands.

A comparison between Oriental & American science education

Guest commentary Glenn S. Bulmer
University of Oklahoma School of Medicine, Oklahoma City, OK, USA; Third Military Medical University, Chongqing, P.R. China

What do you consider to be the most important thing in your life? Im sure that many will initially say money or other physical possessions. After further thought, you might begin to think about things such as love, power, position in life, family, etc. But, for me, and many others in science, the most important thing in the world is ideas. Allow me to give you an example. When I think about fungus diseases, the most exciting things for me to discuss with colleagues are the great unanswered questions in the eld. Here are a few examples: What is the ecology of the etiologic agent of penicilliosis? Why is this disease not found north of the Yangtze River in China and more commonly in northern Thailand than in southern Thailand? Why do some people think that many cases of tuberculosis in the Orient are misdiagnosed when in fact these patients have the fungus disease histoplasmosis? As medical educators, we know that we cannot discuss these subjects until our conversant has a good background in basic medical mycology. And I will be the rst to admit that a lot of the basic information is very
This paper is a synopsis of lectures given by Professor Bulmer to medical school faculty at several medical schools in the PR China. Professor Bulmer taught Medical Mycology (human fungus diseases) at the Medical School (OUHSC) in Oklahoma City for 28 years. During that time he made almost yearly teaching visits to numerous medical schools in the Orient (19681987). In 1988, he took early retirement from OUHSC and moved to the Orient (Manila, Philippines). He has since taught medical faculty in almost all developing countries in the Orient, holding faculty appointments in 5 different medical universities. He has been a WHO consultant and served as Vice President of the International Society for Human and Animal Mycology (ISHAM), specializing in medical education in developing countries. Published in 2002.

dull and time consuming to learn. But we must learn the basics before we can talk about the exciting stuff. The process that I am discussing was illustrated to us many years ago in the following poem: Ideas are expressed in pictures and pictures are explained in words. Clinging to the words, we fail to understand the pictures. Clinging to the pictures, we fail to understand the ideas. Having understood the pictures, we can forget the words. Having understood the ideas, we can forget the picture. In this poem we see that ideas are the most valuable thing in the world to this philosopher. Also, he describes the process of how we develop ideas. To me, this is particularly important because it answers a question that I am asked most frequently as a caucasian Professor who has spent half of his life teaching American medical personnel, and the other half living and teaching in most countries in the Orient. The question that I am asked most frequently by Oriental medical professors, is: What is the big difference between Oriental and American medical education? From my diverse background, with feet in two worlds, the answer is that the Oriental forte is having the most highly developed memory system of any peoples in the world. On the other hand, Americans have terrible memories but have the outstanding traits of problem solving, creativity and never being satised with the way things currently exist. If you look again at the above poem, you will note that the pinnacle of the authors perception is that ideas should be ones ultimate goal. Considering

2 how I just compared Americans with Orientals, one would suspect that this poem had an American author. Not true! This poem was written approximately 1800 years ago by a Chinese philosopher known as Wang Pi, a Taoist thinker. It appears to me that over the years the thoughts of Wang Pi have become lost in the Orient. Instead, his philosophy that ideas are the highest form of thought has been replaced by the art of memorizing at least in the Orient. I make this suggestion because there is little doubt in many peoples minds that the greatest force in science, medical research and medicine in general, has been attained by the Americans. Now, I am certain that some of you will say, perhaps in defense of your system, that Americans have become so great in science because their country is so wealthy. I suggest to you that this is not true. In fact, I could name several relatively wealthy countries (one of them being in the Orient) that have spent enormous sums of money on science but have little to show in results. Thus, to me, you cant buy what Americans have brought to science, i.e., their creativity. Referring to Wang Pis poem, allow me to explain how I feel his philosophy not only applies to educational methods but how we, in the Orient, can perhaps learn once again from our intellectual forefathers. Indeed, we must learn how to stand on their shoulders to see a little further. Everyone knows what I am talking about when I use the word pencil. Pretend for a moment that when you hear the word pencil you dont know what it is. So you look it up in the dictionary and discover that it is a slender tube of wood, metal, plastic, etc. containing a strip or core of graphite, a solid coloring material. What we have done is to use many words to describe a pencil and now I can assume that you know what a pencil is. Now imagine that I have a pencil in my hand and I am showing it you. Hereafter I no longer need to use many words to describe it. Hereafter I only have to use the word pencil, and you know to what I am referring. But, perhaps unknown to you, something else has occurred. Once again, take a look at the pencil I am showing to you. Now, I put this pencil behind my back, or in my pocket or in a desk drawer. As soon as I say the word pencil again, you can see the pencil that I was just showing to you. Yes, now you have a picture of that pencil in your mind. You can even describe to me many of the details of that pencil, e.g., what color it was, how long it was or if it had an eraser on the end. The picture of that pencil is now implanted in your mind and it may remain there for years. As you think about this pencil, you no longer have to remember the words that I used to describe it. No, in fact, your mind pushes you further without me telling you, i.e., you begin to create ideas on how you can use this object. Initially, you may realize you can write a story with the pencil. To me, the amazing thing about writing with a pencil is that you can express your thoughts to someone who may not be alive for another ve hundred years. Or conversely, someone who lived hundreds of years ago can talk to you through writing with the pencil. I hope you begin to see that this picture of a pencil is encouraging you to create ideas, perhaps some that are unique. Now let us relate this concept to my eld, namely, human fungus diseases. Let me suggest to you the word Penicillium. Let us pretend for a moment that this is an entirely new word to you. So you reach for a dictionary of fungi and read the denition of this organism. If this denition is meaningful you should begin to picture this fungus in your mind. Perhaps, to assist you in the beginning, I might want to show the fungus to you under the microscope or show you a 35 mm slide of a Penicillium species while describing to you (with many words) the unique, identifying aspects of this microorganism. Let us assume that we meet again in a week and I say only one word: Penicillium. I know that you will see this organism again in your mind. In fact, this was done to me over 40 years ago and to this day, I still see that fungus in my mind. As humans, we do more than just look at a picture. There is something stimulating about visualizing objects. Something, especially as scientists and educators, that forces the mind to delve deeper. From my perspective, it makes me wonder if this fungus causes any human diseases and, if so, where do these diseases exist and do the patients always die from them? And how can the patient be treated and cured of the disease? I hope you see now that we are where Wang Pi wants us to be. We have gone far beyond just memorizing words and seeing a picture. We are utilizing the central source of creativity, developing and sorting ideas that may lead to new discoveries and understanding. As I look at the Orient, I see a new Ming Dynasty on the horizon. In order to fulll this dream, I believe that we should pay more attention to ideas such as those expressed by Wang Pi. As I grow older I nd it becomes increasingly difcult to know where were going unless we know from where we came. In other words, our clever ancestors may have already

3 presented to us many of the tools that we need for a successful future. We need only to recognize and grasp them to move forward with our creativity.
Address for correspondence: Professor Emeritus, University of Oklahoma School of Medicine, Oklahoma City, OK, USA; Professor (Hon.), The Third Military Medical University, Chongqing, Peoples Republic of China. E-mail: glenn@compass.com.ph Reprint requests to: 68 Beverly Hills Ave., Beverly Hills Subd., Taytay, Rizal, 1920, Phillipines