“If I have seen far, it is because I have stood on the shoulders of giants,” said Sir Isaac Newton. The human race has made quite the progress since he made that statement and we have seen quite far primarily in STEM fields, in no small part due to the contribution and discoveries of Sir Isaac Newton. His most significant work had to do with forces, more specifically his laws of motion and the universal law of gravitation. But his “lesser” know contribution that I believe could not be appreciated enough is/was Calculus. Yes, calculus. That branch of mathematics that many dread the thought of in their undergraduate studies. The branch of mathematics that mostly involves the calculation of rates (differential calculus) and summation (integral calculus). Its application so far-reaching, from its physics, engineering, statistics to medicine. Yes, medicine!
Now to be fair, physicians don’t sit in workrooms or clinics trying to figure out the integral of a particular function f(x), given a certain range/interval of x. But they still rely on the principles of calculus nonetheless in certain specialties or situations even if they don’t always realize it. Microbiology/Infectious Disease comes to mind. To calculate how the rate of growth of microbial culture is affected by variables such as temperature, differential calculus is the perfect go-to. And when you don’t have weeks to wait for a certain microbe to grow in culture because a patient’s life could depend on it, knowing something as valuable as the optimal temperature to culture whatever you may suspect is immensely valuable. Campylobacter jejuni comes to mind as an example (shout out to sketchy!).
In my undergrad, I remember having to use differential calculus to calculate the rate of absorption of medications, the rate of elimination, and using the model to plot graphs of drug concentration in the body over time. This application of calculus is particularly useful when it comes to dosing medications. Based on such graphs and patient response, parameters like Minimum Effective Dose and Maximum Tolerated Dose can be determined. This is important in helping physicians determine just the right amount of medication needed to help their patients without subjecting them to unnecessary/toxic side effects or undertreating.
As I spend more time in the wards, with patients, with the rest of the health care team, I often find myself reflecting on my training to this point; the knowledge I have acquired so far, and how it applies to whatever the current situation I find myself. I also find myself appreciating the applications of other things I have learned in life that are not necessarily directly medicine-related. Calculus by far is one of my favorite concepts I ever learned (not that I still remember much of it). Calculus in of itself is by no means required in the curriculum to do what we do, but I think the concept remains quite useful throughout life as part of our basic understanding of science and the world around us. It is a fundamental tool for understanding physics, chemistry, population, biology, and so on.”
Story: Nasrullah Abdurrazaq Photo: Claire Schenken