Last week, two separate events made me ponder on a question that confronts every contemporary medical professional – does vast access to online medical information actually help people make wiser decisions about their health? Do we, as medical professionals, operate at different levels of capability when it comes to managing information, applying knowledge, and delivering true wisdom to patients. And more importantly, whether patients can distinguish between these levels when seeking care.
The first event was my introduction to a rather striking term: “information obesity.” A social media post defined it as the state of being intellectually overloaded—constantly bombarded with facts, snippets, and opinions about matters that barely concern us, often without context or depth. It also referred to our tendency to consume pre-selected, biased, or shallow content, mistaking it for understanding.
The second was an encounter with a young, tech-savvy patient with a minor ailment. What would have usually been a routine consultation, soon became an interaction where I was confronted with a series of highly technical questions. I usually encourage genuinely inquisitive patients to be openly communicative about their doubts regarding their disease or its treatment. In this case however, I couldn’t help myself from asking him, if he was a medical professional? He smiled and answered that most of questions were artificial intelligence generated and that he was “just cross-verifying” the information with me. I was tempted to, but obviously refrained from asking him whether I had passed his test.
In order to answer the question raised above, we must understand the process of professional development from being well informed to knowledgeable to wise.
Information
The Oxford English Dictionary defines information as “facts provided or learned about something.” It is the raw material for understanding any subject, the first step in the learning process.
For a doctor, being well-informed is a fundamental requirement. Information builds the foundation for medical practice. It comes from textbooks, lectures, clinical guidelines, journal articles, conferences, and peer interactions. Each piece of information adds to one’s mental database, enabling clinicians to stay updated with new discoveries, evolving treatments, and emerging health risks. This is also the level that is easily accessible to anyone with an internet connection. Search engines and AI tools provide rapid access to vast quantities of information. One can easily look up symptoms, get to know the possible diagnoses and various treatment options available to them, literally within minutes. They can also learn about the side effects of these treatment modalities, something that patients tend to worry about far in excess of clinical reality.
However, access to information does not necessarily lead to an understanding about the disease process. Information alone does not guarantee clarity, accuracy, or relevance. It is merely the first layer—a necessary but insufficient ingredient in medical decision-making.
Knowledge
Knowledge is defined as “facts, information and skills acquired through education or experience” about any subject. Knowledge represents an evolution beyond information. It involves assimilation, interpretation and context. In medicine, this means taking information from multiple sources and integrating it with training, clinical exposure, and patient experience. Knowledge is when guidelines begin to make sense; when therapies are not merely memorised but understood; when a clinician knows why a treatment works and when it should be used. Importantly, knowledge often inclines the clinician toward action—towards recommending a treatment because evidence supports it. It is part information, part experience, and part practice. A knowledgeable doctor is competent, reliable, and updated. But even knowledge has its limits, because applying it uniformly to all patients would overlook the uniqueness of each individual.
Wisdom
Wisdom is defined as “the quality of having experience and good judgement”. It involves an element of insight. It is the pinnacle of professional maturity. It encompasses both information and knowledge but goes far beyond them. A wise doctor understands not just the science of medicine but also its humanity. Wisdom allows a clinician to look at a patient not as a collection of symptoms, but as a person with unique circumstances, constraints, and priorities. It means recognising that the best treatment on paper may not be the best treatment for a specific individual. Age, comorbidities, gender, family support, cultural beliefs, affordability, and personal values, all matter. Wisdom guides a doctor in weighing benefits against burdens, risks against expectations, and possibilities against realities. Sometimes wisdom means saying yes, but often it means having the courage to say no, the ability to deny an intervention that may work for many but is unsuitable for a particular patient. Eventually there is little advantage in prescribing therapies that a patient cannot adhere to, tolerate or afford. A wise clinician dovetails recommendations to ensure that the treatment prescribed by him is not just medically sound but also practical and beneficial to the individual. Wisdom is what ensures that medicine remains a healing profession rather than merely a technical one.
So, Which Attribute Matters Most? In an ideal world, a good medical professional must possess all three attributes – well informed, knowledgeable and wise. But if one had to choose the most valuable, the answer is clearly wisdom. Information is abundant, sometimes overwhelmingly so. Knowledge is essential and forms the backbone of good clinical practice. But it is wisdom that transforms treatment into care. Information helps us ask the right questions, but wisdom helps us answer them in ways that matter. If someone was to heed my advice, I would counsel them to choose a wise medical professional, not merely an informed one. The likelihood of error decreases when decisions are guided not just by data, but by judgement, experience, and empathy. Information is like the thread from which the fabric of knowledge is woven. But it takes wisdom to tailor that fabric into something wearable—something that fits the person it is meant for. And in that subtle, skilled and well-intended transformation lies the true art of medicine.
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Prof Hemant Madan is an Interventional Cardiologist and Programme Head, Cardiac Sciences for Narayana Health.
