Storytelling with Data: Lessons Learned from the Hungarian Father of Hand Washing, Dr. Ignaz Semmelweis

Today, is May 5, 2020, and The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared May 5th every year as the “ Save Lives: Clean Your Hands” Day. It is the day that we must give thanks to nurses, midwives, and Dr. Ignaz Semmelweis known as the Father of Hand-Washing and Savior of Mothers,

Who? Who is Dr. Semmelweis?

Let me tell you a story about Dr. Ignaz Semmelweis and why he is called the Father of HandWashing, and during this time of coronavirus pandemic, where everyone is practicing public health hygiene of handwashing for at least 20 seconds can kill the virus. You will learn that washing hands can actually save lives, literally.

However, the moral of the story is that sometimes showing data, numbers, and graphs and charts is not enough, it is the story behind the number that connects with your audience that’s most important. For the clinicians, researchers, data scientists, epidemiologists, biostatisticians, and public health professionals who love to crunch numbers and speak in number, we must always remember that people don’t remember the number, but they remember the story.

Let’s our story begin in 1846 in Vienna Austria with a Hungarian doctor, Dr. Ignaz Semmelweis.

To learn more medical training and health-related professional careers at Semmelweis University in Budapest, Hungary, visit https://semmelweis.hu/english/