--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: A patient had a 50-50 chance of…" description: "\"A patient had a 50-50 chance of benefiting from visiting a physician as of 1910. Medicine was more like voodoo than science until the 20th Century.\" —..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/888/abraham-flexner-29762_20th-century_a-patient-had-a-50-50-chance-of-benefiti_781673.png" --- # A patient had a 50-50 chance of benefiting from visiting a… ![“A patient had a 50-50 chance of benefiting from visiting a physician as of 1910. Medicine was more like voodoo than science until the 20th Century.” quote by Abraham Flexner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/888/abraham-flexner-29762_20th-century_a-patient-had-a-50-50-chance-of-benefiti_781673.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/888/abraham-flexner-29762_20th-century_a-patient-had-a-50-50-chance-of-benefiti_781673.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/888/abraham-flexner-29762_20th-century_a-patient-had-a-50-50-chance-of-benefiti_781673.png) > “A patient had a 50-50 chance of benefiting from visiting a physician as of 1910. Medicine was more like voodoo than science until the 20th Century.” [Abraham Flexner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-flexner/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Early 20th‑century medicine lacked scientific rigor, resembling superstition more than evidence‑based practice. **In simple terms:** Medicine was unscientific then. Key Takeaway Recognize the importance of scientific standards in healthcare. Themes medicine science history education Mood critical reflective Type historical educational When to use this quote - medical school curricula - patient care - policy making - public health advocacy Key Concepts evidence based practice medical reform Questions to Reflect On - How did the Flexner Report change medical training? - What modern practices lack strong evidence? A Different Perspective Even after reforms, some practices remain unproven. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Chance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/chance/) [Doctor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/doctor/) [Medicine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/medicine/) [Patience](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/patience/) [Physicians](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/physicians/) [Science](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/science/) [Voodoo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/voodoo/) ## Related quotes > [There is no medicine like hope ...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orison-swett-marden/there-is-no-medicine-like-hope/) [Orison Swett Marden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orison-swett-marden/) > [Advertising shouldn't be like medicine. It should be like candy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeff-goodby/advertising-shouldn-t-be-like-medicine-it-should-be-like-candy/) [Jeff Goodby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeff-goodby/) > [I believe music is like medicine. Like a good tonic, it can open your mind, strengthen and possibly even cure you. Music can work…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/burning-spear/i-believe-music-is-like-medicine-like-a-good-tonic-it-can-open-your/) [Burning Spear](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/burning-spear/) > [Ultimately, Congressional medicine is like veterinary medicine: It must be strong enough to work, and tasty enough to swallow.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-cooper/ultimately-congressional-medicine-is-like-veterinary-medicine-it-must/) [Jim Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-cooper/) > [And if you dolled up, I got the voodoo for you b-tches](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/drake/and-if-you-dolled-up-i-got-the-voodoo-for-you-b-tches/) [Drake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/drake/) > [I can no longer believe in any voodoo spell or laboratory virus. This is something deeper, darker. This comes from the cosmos, from the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-marion/i-can-no-longer-believe-in-any-voodoo-spell-or-laboratory-virus-this/) [Isaac Marion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-marion/) > [“So I figured I might as well see if I could find something Gaspard didnt already know about. Like an herb or potion or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-plum/so-i-figured-i-might-as-well-see-if-i-could-find-something-gaspard/) [Amy Plum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-plum/) > [If science ever gets to the bottom of Voodoo in Haiti and Africa, it will be found that some important medical secrets, still unknown…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zora-neale-hurston/if-science-ever-gets-to-the-bottom-of-voodoo-in-haiti-and-africa-it/) [Zora Neale Hurston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zora-neale-hurston/) > [Why not just tell people I'm an alien from Mars. Tell them I eat live chickens and do a voodoo dance at midnight. They'll…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-j-jackson/why-not-just-tell-people-i-m-an-alien-from-mars-tell-them-i-eat-live/) [Michael J. Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-j-jackson/) > [I noticed that all the prayers I used to offer to God, and all the prayers I now offer to Joe Pesci, are being…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-carlin/i-noticed-that-all-the-prayers-i-used-to-offer-to-god-and-all-the/) [George Carlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-carlin/) > [There's also the tradition of voodoo, the Haitian magic arts, in New Orleans. And because New Orleans is below sea level, when they bury…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-trammell/there-s-also-the-tradition-of-voodoo-the-haitian-magic-arts-in-new/) [Sam Trammell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-trammell/) > [“voodoo is an actual religion, while hoodoo is a system of folk magic blending pagan traditions with ancient practices and European religion.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/juliette-harper/voodoo-is-an-actual-religion-while-hoodoo-is-a-system-of-folk-magic/) [Juliette Harper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/juliette-harper/) > [I have two curiosity cabinets at home filled with finds from jumble sales, markets and my travels. My favourite piece is a voodoo mask…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erin-o-connor/i-have-two-curiosity-cabinets-at-home-filled-with-finds-from-jumble/) [Erin O'Connor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erin-o-connor/) > [I think that voodoo as a spiritual tradition has been demonized for so long in popular culture. I wanted to write against that and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesmyn-ward/i-think-that-voodoo-as-a-spiritual-tradition-has-been-demonized-for/) [Jesmyn Ward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesmyn-ward/) > [I wanted to write about voodoo tradition that I feel has been very important to survival of black people here: people of the African…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesmyn-ward/i-wanted-to-write-about-voodoo-tradition-that-i-feel-has-been-very/) [Jesmyn Ward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesmyn-ward/) ## More by Abraham Flexner > [Medical education is not just a program for building knowledge and skills in its recipients... it is also an experience which creates attitudes and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-flexner/medical-education-is-not-just-a-program-for-building-knowledge-and/) [Abraham Flexner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-flexner/) > [Mathematicians, like cows in the dark, all look alike to me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-flexner/mathematicians-like-cows-in-the-dark-all-look-alike-to-me/) [Abraham Flexner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-flexner/) > [We feel strongly that the spirit characteristic of America at its noblest, above all the pursuit of higher learning, cannot admit of any conditions…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-flexner/we-feel-strongly-that-the-spirit-characteristic-of-america-at-its/) [Abraham Flexner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-flexner/) > [There are men who teach best by not teaching at all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-flexner/there-are-men-who-teach-best-by-not-teaching-at-all/) [Abraham Flexner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-flexner/) > [The new naval treaty permits the United States to spend a billion dollars on warships-a sum greater than has been accumulated by all our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-flexner/the-new-naval-treaty-permits-the-united-states-to-spend-a-billion/) [Abraham Flexner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-flexner/) > [There are men that teach best by not teaching at all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-flexner/there-are-men-that-teach-best-by-not-teaching-at-all/) [Abraham Flexner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-flexner/) > [You have had your last bad meal. But, you have also heard your last honest compliment, and you have lost your last true friend.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-flexner/you-have-had-your-last-bad-meal-but-you-have-also-heard-your-last/) [Abraham Flexner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-flexner/) > [The real enemy is the man who tries to mold the human spirit so that it will not dare to spread its wings.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-flexner/the-real-enemy-is-the-man-who-tries-to-mold-the-human-spirit-so-that/) [Abraham Flexner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-flexner/) > [The student is to collect and evaluate facts. The facts are locked up in the patient.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-flexner/the-student-is-to-collect-and-evaluate-facts-the-facts-are-locked-up/) [Abraham Flexner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-flexner/) > [The world in which we live is the only world about which our senses can testify.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-flexner/the-world-in-which-we-live-is-the-only-world-about-which-our-senses/) [Abraham Flexner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-flexner/) > [ At no period of \[Michael Faraday's\] unmatched career was he interested in utility. He was absorbed in disentangling the riddles of the universe, at… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-flexner/at-no-period-of-michael-faraday-s-unmatched-career-was-he-interested/) [Abraham Flexner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-flexner/) > [Science, in the very act of solving problems, creates more of them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-flexner/science-in-the-very-act-of-solving-problems-creates-more-of-them/) [Abraham Flexner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-flexner/) > [We must not overlook the role that extremists play. They are the gadflies that keep society from being too complacent or self-satisfied; they are,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-flexner/we-must-not-overlook-the-role-that-extremists-play-they-are-the/) [Abraham Flexner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-flexner/) > [Curiosity, which may or may not eventuate in something useful, is probably the most outstanding characteristic of modern thinking ... Institutions of learning should…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-flexner/curiosity-which-may-or-may-not-eventuate-in-something-useful-is/) [Abraham Flexner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-flexner/) > [“Nations have recently been led to borrow billions for war; no nation has ever borrowed largely for education. Probably, no nation is rich enough…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-flexner/nations-have-recently-been-led-to-borrow-billions-for-war-no-nation/) [Abraham Flexner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-flexner/) [Explore all 18 Abraham Flexner quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-flexner/) ## More 20th century quotes > [I think the inhabitants of the past are fighting hard to keep the rents they acquired in the 20th century.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-bennet/i-think-the-inhabitants-of-the-past-are-fighting-hard-to-keep-the/) [Michael Bennet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-bennet/) > [Corporate America is a 20th-century dinosaur, trembling on the edge of extinction, and the only way for you to have a genuinely secure future…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-kiyosaki/corporate-america-is-a-20th-century-dinosaur-trembling-on-the-edge-of/) [Robert Kiyosaki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-kiyosaki/) > [America thrived in the 20th century because we made high school free. We sent a generation to college. We cultivated the most educated workforce…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barack-obama/america-thrived-in-the-20th-century-because-we-made-high-school-free/) [Barack Obama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barack-obama/) > [The 20th century has been marked by cynicism, selfishness, greed, and the desire to please, all without changing the status quo. In the 21st…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scar-arias/the-20th-century-has-been-marked-by-cynicism-selfishness-greed-and/) [Óscar Arias](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scar-arias/) > [I've studied the lives of the 20th century's great businessmen and concluded self-confidence was instrumental in all their success.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-spanos/i-ve-studied-the-lives-of-the-20th-century-s-great-businessmen-and/) [Alex Spanos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-spanos/) > [Universal literacy was a 20th-century goal. Before then, reading and writing were skills largely confined to a small, highly educated class of professional people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hugh-mackay/universal-literacy-was-a-20th-century-goal-before-then-reading-and/) [Hugh Mackay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hugh-mackay/) > [The great wars of the 20th Century made it into the worst Century ever.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-ambrose/the-great-wars-of-the-20th-century-made-it-into-the-worst-century-ever/) [Stephen Ambrose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-ambrose/) > [That is very different from how it used to be in the 20th century. Media was very one way. There's a small little industry.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-gordon-levitt/that-is-very-different-from-how-it-used-to-be-in-the-20th-century/) [Joseph Gordon-Levitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-gordon-levitt/) > [If you look back on the history of the 20th century, the 19th century or even to the ancien régime of the 18th, you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zygmunt-bauman/if-you-look-back-on-the-history-of-the-20th-century-the-19th-century/) [Zygmunt Bauman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zygmunt-bauman/) > [Up to the 20th century, we can say that this whole period was an Earth epoch, 'Earth' meaning the riches of the earth, simple…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lech-walesa/up-to-the-20th-century-we-can-say-that-this-whole-period-was-an-earth/) [Lech Walesa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lech-walesa/) > [I think this century more than any other really has seen the phenomenon of people being uprooted in such numbers, such a degree. They…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elie-wiesel/i-think-this-century-more-than-any-other-really-has-seen-the/) [Elie Wiesel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elie-wiesel/) > [If you look at that incredible burst of fantastic characters that emerged in the late 19th century/early 20th century, you can see so many…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-moore/if-you-look-at-that-incredible-burst-of-fantastic-characters-that/) [Alan Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-moore/) > [Cruel and paradoxical though it undoubtedly is, the record shows that yje most succesful 20th century monarchs have been those who were not actually…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-cannadine/cruel-and-paradoxical-though-it-undoubtedly-is-the-record-shows-that/) [David Cannadine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-cannadine/) > [An interesting thing about New Zealand, you know, literature is that it really didn't begin in any real sense until the 20th century.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eleanor-catton/an-interesting-thing-about-new-zealand-you-know-literature-is-that-it/) [Eleanor Catton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eleanor-catton/) > [The Warmth of Other Suns is a sweeping and yet deeply personal tale of America's hidden 20th century history - the long and difficult…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-brokaw/the-warmth-of-other-suns-is-a-sweeping-and-yet-deeply-personal-tale/) [Tom Brokaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-brokaw/) Browse all 672 20th century quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "A patient had a 50-50 chance of benefiting from visiting a physician as of 1910. Medicine was more like voodoo than science until the 20th Century.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Abraham Flexner" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-flexner/a-patient-had-a-50-50-chance-of-benefiting-from-visiting-a-physician/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "20th century" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-flexner/a-patient-had-a-50-50-chance-of-benefiting-from-visiting-a-physician/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/888/abraham-flexner-29762_20th-century_a-patient-had-a-50-50-chance-of-benefiti_781673.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/888/abraham-flexner-29762_20th-century_a-patient-had-a-50-50-chance-of-benefiti_781673.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/888/abraham-flexner-29762_20th-century_a-patient-had-a-50-50-chance-of-benefiti_781673.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“A patient had a 50-50 chance of benefiting from visiting a physician as of 1910. Medicine was more like…” — Abraham Flexner", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Abraham Flexner", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-flexner/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "A patient had a 50-50 chance...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-flexner/a-patient-had-a-50-50-chance-of-benefiting-from-visiting-a-physician/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-flexner/a-patient-had-a-50-50-chance-of-benefiting-from-visiting-a-physician/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```