Doctors often evoke mixed feelings—many of us can recall both positive and frustrating experiences with them. Some people complain about their doctor’s skills or bedside manner. Believe it or not, this isn’t a modern issue. Back in the Middle Ages, doctors were also a topic of debate, and one 12th-century physician had a lot to say about his colleagues’ shortcomings.
This outspoken critic was Ibn Jumay (d. 1198), a top Jewish physician in Egypt who served as the personal doctor to the Ayyubid ruler Saladin. Ibn Jumay didn’t just practice medicine; he wrote extensively about it, with his most famous work being the Treatise to Saladin on the Revival of the Art of Medicine.
The Treatise started as a conversation between Ibn Jumay and Saladin, where the doctor lamented “why the art of medicine is effaced and obliterated and why its merits are erased and destroyed.” He wasn’t just complaining—he also offered solutions to revive the medical profession. Here are the key issues he identified:
1. Doctors Aren’t Reading Enough
Ibn Jumay’s first gripe was that physicians were stuck in a rut, relying on just twenty popular books, often only skimming through summaries. This lack of curiosity led to gaps in their understanding of essential topics like “the anatomy of the brain, the liver, the stomach, the compound parts in general; the functions of all the parts of the body; the properties of foodstuffs and of simple and compound drugs.”
2. Deception Is Rampant
Ibn Jumay didn’t mince words when it came to his peers’ marketing tactics. He accused some doctors of swapping real knowledge for flashy appearances:
Some deceive the masses by means of a pompous attitude in clothing, appearance, use of perfume, and the like. Others deceive the people by endearing themselves to them, by currying favor with them, by winning over their wives through things suitable and saleable with them, such as aphrodisiacs, drugs for or against conception, gaining weight, and hair growth, and by arranging with the lady-companions, the hairdressers, the nurses, and others that they should praise and extol their medical and human qualities.
Chirurgical Operation, Turkish manuscript, 15th Century
3. Patients Are Picking the Wrong Doctors
But it wasn’t just the doctors who were at fault. Ibn Jumay also criticized patients, particularly the wealthy, for not doing their homework. Instead of seeking out qualified physicians, they chose doctors based on social recommendations or a good sense of humour. He observed:
It is obvious that a practitioner of medicine does not deserve to be associated with medical excellence or to be preferred to any other physician on the grounds of his standing at their doors or on the basis of long acquaintance. What he deserves for standing at their doors is, rather, to be made one of the gatekeepers, for he does not do anything physicians should do; and what he deserves for his long acquaintance with them is to be praised and treated nicely.
4. Fearful Doctors Don’t Take Risks
Ibn Jumay also called out physicians who played it too safe, avoiding treatments that could bring significant benefits. Instead, they relied on mild remedies like “rose-water potion, rose-wine, draughts of hot water, or the abandonment of drugs and the restriction of diet.” He argued that this so-called ‘gentle treatment’ was a cop-out, often leaving the real issues unaddressed and sometimes worsening the patient’s condition.
Folio from an Arabic manuscript of Dioscorides, De materia medica, 1229
Ibn Jumay didn’t just point fingers—he also proposed solutions, including better education for doctors and more rigorous testing to ensure they were truly qualified. If you’re curious about his full critique and suggestions, you can dive into the English translation of his work in Treatise to Salah ad-Din on the Revival of the Art of Medicine, edited by Hartmut Fahndrich, published in 1983.
Doctors often evoke mixed feelings—many of us can recall both positive and frustrating experiences with them. Some people complain about their doctor’s skills or bedside manner. Believe it or not, this isn’t a modern issue. Back in the Middle Ages, doctors were also a topic of debate, and one 12th-century physician had a lot to say about his colleagues’ shortcomings.
This outspoken critic was Ibn Jumay (d. 1198), a top Jewish physician in Egypt who served as the personal doctor to the Ayyubid ruler Saladin. Ibn Jumay didn’t just practice medicine; he wrote extensively about it, with his most famous work being the Treatise to Saladin on the Revival of the Art of Medicine.
The Treatise started as a conversation between Ibn Jumay and Saladin, where the doctor lamented “why the art of medicine is effaced and obliterated and why its merits are erased and destroyed.” He wasn’t just complaining—he also offered solutions to revive the medical profession. Here are the key issues he identified:
1. Doctors Aren’t Reading Enough
Ibn Jumay’s first gripe was that physicians were stuck in a rut, relying on just twenty popular books, often only skimming through summaries. This lack of curiosity led to gaps in their understanding of essential topics like “the anatomy of the brain, the liver, the stomach, the compound parts in general; the functions of all the parts of the body; the properties of foodstuffs and of simple and compound drugs.”
2. Deception Is Rampant
Ibn Jumay didn’t mince words when it came to his peers’ marketing tactics. He accused some doctors of swapping real knowledge for flashy appearances:
Some deceive the masses by means of a pompous attitude in clothing, appearance, use of perfume, and the like. Others deceive the people by endearing themselves to them, by currying favor with them, by winning over their wives through things suitable and saleable with them, such as aphrodisiacs, drugs for or against conception, gaining weight, and hair growth, and by arranging with the lady-companions, the hairdressers, the nurses, and others that they should praise and extol their medical and human qualities.
3. Patients Are Picking the Wrong Doctors
But it wasn’t just the doctors who were at fault. Ibn Jumay also criticized patients, particularly the wealthy, for not doing their homework. Instead of seeking out qualified physicians, they chose doctors based on social recommendations or a good sense of humour. He observed:
It is obvious that a practitioner of medicine does not deserve to be associated with medical excellence or to be preferred to any other physician on the grounds of his standing at their doors or on the basis of long acquaintance. What he deserves for standing at their doors is, rather, to be made one of the gatekeepers, for he does not do anything physicians should do; and what he deserves for his long acquaintance with them is to be praised and treated nicely.
4. Fearful Doctors Don’t Take Risks
Ibn Jumay also called out physicians who played it too safe, avoiding treatments that could bring significant benefits. Instead, they relied on mild remedies like “rose-water potion, rose-wine, draughts of hot water, or the abandonment of drugs and the restriction of diet.” He argued that this so-called ‘gentle treatment’ was a cop-out, often leaving the real issues unaddressed and sometimes worsening the patient’s condition.
Ibn Jumay didn’t just point fingers—he also proposed solutions, including better education for doctors and more rigorous testing to ensure they were truly qualified. If you’re curious about his full critique and suggestions, you can dive into the English translation of his work in Treatise to Salah ad-Din on the Revival of the Art of Medicine, edited by Hartmut Fahndrich, published in 1983.
You can also read Daniel Nicolae’s thesis, A mediaeval court physician at work: Ibn Jumay”s commentary on the Canon of Medicine, from the University of Oxford.
Top Image: British Library MS Sloane 2435, fol. 35v
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