I RECENTLY received in the mail my new medical licence issued by the nascent Pakistan Medical Commission (PMC). The new certificate I received was different from the previous one issued by the erstwhile Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC) in a couple of ways, including the obvious letterhead, but also the new logotype adopted by the commission.

The new logo bears on it the caduceus, or the wand of Mercury, a short rod entwined by two serpents, surmounted by wings, which historically has been the symbol of Hermes (alchemists/merchants) or Mercury (thieves) in Greek and Roman mythologies, respectively.

In contrast, the traditional symbol adopted by the medical community globally to represent medicine (and healing) is the Staff of Asclepius; a single serpent encircling a staff named after Asclepius, an ancient Greek physician deified as the god of medicine. The only similarity between these two symbols is the serpent.

The PMC is not the only medical body to erroneously use a symbol that has no medical bearing in any historical context whatsoever. In fact, the first usage of the caduceus to represent a medical organisation happened as a misunderstanding in the early 20th century when an army surgeon in the US Army Medical Corps (AMC), not understanding the classical mythological iconography, insisted on the use of the caduceus as a collar insignia for all US AMC personnel.

As an acknowledgment of this historical error, the US AMC has since considered the symbol as “an administrative emblem, implying neutral, non-combatant status, and not as medical”.

Thomas Carlyle, the Scottish historian, philosopher and mathematician, once said, “It is through symbols that man consciously or unconsciously lives, works and has his being.” The Asklepian is a medical symbol with a heritage stretching well over two millennia, and in deference to this vast heritage of the noble profession of medicine, the PMC should consider revising its logo.

Dr Juwayriyah Qazi
Abbottabad

Published in Dawn, January 18th, 2022