Imagination; More important than knowledge?

"58 years old lady with left
hemiparesis, Left side loss of
proprioception and right sided tongue deviation. Illustrate the possibly affected pathways and give a diagnosis"

The above is an Anatomy exam question similar to the one I had once encountered,which apparently,was the toughest of all. For that matter, I couldn't help but fail miserably in that one question. I remember how this had gottten me angry and really depressed to the point of not wanting to speak to anyone. I got discouraged simply because everything to me seemed to be so unfair. I mean,how could I have failed such a question when I had spent the whole night on the eve of the exam digging into my books,revising thouroughly on all the possible examinable areas in neuroanatomy?

In any case, I was convinced beyond reasonable doubts that I could tackle any exam question related to the topic. Details of corticospinal,dorsal tracts, medial lemniscus,basal ganglia,cranial nerves and many more neuro-terms and descriptions lay floating at my fingertips. It was simlpy impossible for anything or anyone to contest against my "charged" knowledge!

So,when did the rain start throwing blows at me?

Whereas the question,at that particular moment, looked too ambiguous, if not impossible to fathom,my lecturer was able to get me convinced that it was the easiest neuroanatomy question to have ever come across. All I needed was to see things in a much more broader picture. Visualize what was happening,interpret them correctly and then apply my knowledge. What I had lacked was the ability to relate the factual information I'd gathered from my texts with the clinical case presented. I needed to open my mind and discern things at a slightly different angle. Simply put,I lacked imagination!

In medical school,often times we are reminded that it is the way we apply our knowledge that is going to determine  how good a doctor we might become. However,this mare act of applying once knowledge appropriately,as I later came to learn, isn't a smooth sail as such. It requires a mind out of the ordinary to see things beyond your own self. You don't paint an object as you see it,rather, you paint it as you think it. Thats why a rock pile ceases to be a rock pile the moment a single man contemplates it, bearing within him the image of a cathedral.

No wonder back in primary school a story ceased to be a story without including "my grandmother" and "the day I will never forget" rendering us to merciless strokes for lack of imagination and creativity. For us,our world only revolved around our homes;around us.

Putting the exam scenario aside,I discoverd that Albert Einstein,with his philosophic thinking, already had an insight on  the importance of imagination in someone's life. His affirmations that imagination is more important than knowledge seems to have a positive bearing on the life of a successful person;a doctor for that matter.

More often than not we've heard phrases like:"Put yourself in my shoes...can you imagine that...suppose it was you...I can imagine what you must be going through etc..".

You then wonder what is there to imagine about when you already KNOW the facts surrounding such circumstances. Why should you care to put yourself in another person's shoes? Even If they are facing problems,isn't it obvious that problems have always been there and no matter how deep you get involved or what you do, nothing could possibly ever change.

For a doctor to assist an ailing patient,Its not just enough to know that a disease exists. They must be able to imagine what the patient could be going through;empathize with them.Their is need to understand the feelings of oneself and the patient and respond to them in appropriate ways. This way, they can be able to relate their vast knowledge in medicine with the matter at hand   and be able to make a sound judgement.This is what being humane and responding to a calling is all about.

As a medical student,I can only hope that my life will take such a modest course.

Little wonder,then, that the politician has always remained on top of the game,not because he surpasses the common mwananchi with knowledge,but because they always have a way of swaying their subjects into a world of fantasies about developements that are never forthcoming. And the cries continue.

This,is the power of imagination!