1847. Ignaz Semmelweis suggests doctors wash their hands. They destroy his career for it. Navigate standing for science against the establishment.
Part of
Medical Breakthroughs →
The cowpox gamble that invented vaccination, the doctor they destroyed for suggesting handwashing, the free vaccine that saved millions, and the warp-speed race against a pandemic. Navigate the decisions behind medical breakthroughs.
Skills you'll build
What happens in this story4 scenarios
Vienna, 1847. You've proven that doctors' unwashed hands are killing mothers. The data is irrefutable. Your colleagues' response — destroy your career and call you insane.
What started with the doctor they destroyed just got more complicated. Now you need to evaluate the courage required to challenge medical establishment orthodoxy — and the situation is shifting faster than your first approach can handle.
This is the moment you've been building toward. Navigating ethical dilemmas in experimental medicine and research — except now the stakes are real and there's no rehearsal. What you do next matters.
You've faced the hardest part. Now turn what you've learned into something sustainable — a way to evaluate the courage required to challenge medical establishment orthodoxy not just today, but every time this situation returns.
More stories in this course
View all →The Cowpox Gamble
1796. Edward Jenner has a theory. To prove it, he'll inject a child with cowpox. Navigate the birth of vaccination.
4 scenarios →The Free Vaccine
Jonas Salk refuses to patent the polio vaccine. 'Could you patent the sun?' Navigate choosing humanity over profit.
4 scenarios →The Warp Speed
2020. A pandemic. A vaccine in record time. Navigate the decisions that raced against a virus killing millions.
4 scenarios →The Doctor They Destroyed
1847. Ignaz Semmelweis suggests doctors wash their hands. They destroy his career for it. Navigate standing for science against the establishment.
Start free →4 scenarios · 25 min · No account required to try
