Medicine as a science is evidence based but its practise in Africa has always been confronted by certain aspects of African culture- belief in a Supreme Being or deity and a spiritual cause for almost all illnesses- which is hardly evidence based.
It is normal practise for many an African to seek spiritual healing and /or solution to an ailment before, during or after consulting a medic on any health issue. This health seeking behaviour is disturbing as simple curable medical conditions ultimately lead to death as the decision to see a medic is made late or medical treatment is abandoned half-way. For this reason most medics refuse to acknowledge the remotest possibility of a spiritual basis for illness and healing which is underlined by the fear of excesses and isolated dependence on spiritual healing methods though down the crevices of our minds we know that this is possible. It was indeed unheard of for Galileo to propose that the earth was spherical against the wide held view that it was flat. Some credible and high profile medics working in Africa have had experiences during their practice which transcends the scope of modern medicine. For some it involved the dramatic recovery of moribund patients whilst for others it was a sudden inexplicable deterioration in their own health during or after administering healthcare to patients. This issue of health and its relation to the spiritual- rare as it may be- has been neglected or isolated. This paper seeks to visit this issue by examining the experiences which some colleagues have gone through and open up result oriented discussions to help the medic working in Africa deal effectively with such issues.