Empiricism versus science in the teaching of nephrology

Recent changes in medical courses in Italy reflect a recognition that both theoretical education and clinical practice are essential components of a doctor's training. These two parallel branches of medical education find their origins in the beliefs of Galen, mentor of medicine as a pure science, and of Alexander of Aphrodisias, promoter of the predominant role of empiricism. Neither a dogmatic nor an empiric approach to the study of medicine, however, is sufficient on its own.