Mathematical models and their applications in medicine

This paper emphasises the fact that mathematical modelling techniques have important applications in routine medical practice and medical education. It is argued that the development of mathematical models should be more closely linked to experimentation and that techniques based on computer simulation can extend the range of applicable models to models based on nonlinesr differential equations which are the largest class of models in biological work. Model have an important role in hypothesis testing and in the development of indirect methods for measuring physiological quantities. The important of model validation is stressed