Tag: Empathy
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Shadowing Artists on the Wards: an undergraduate, arts-based medical elective
Pamela Brett-MacLeanMichelle CasavantShirley ServissAlyssa CruzEdmonton, Canada Medicine is frequently described as both an art and science, with science focused on objective, technical knowledge (competency, or cure) and the artistic elements focused on the human side of medicine (empathy, or care). Herman (2001), among others, has suggested artistic and scientific activity converge, suggesting that “when an…
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Compassion and the art of medicine
Michael VassalloBournemouth, United Kingdom Is medicine an art or a science? As a medical student embarking on a journey, the answer seemed obvious. I was one of a unanimous chorus of students confidently claiming science as the answer to this trick question. My mum, however, told me “to be kind and smile, appearing serious or…
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The benefit of literature to a medical student
Martin ConwillUnited Kingdom In a letter to Benjamin Bailey in 1817, John Keats, who only one year prior was a medical student himself, wrote: “I am certain of nothing but the holiness of the heart’s affections and the truth of imagination – what the imagination sees as beauty must be truth.”1 This proclamation can be…
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That reminds me of a story: The language of narrative in medicine
Ann RedpathNew York City, United States Story is ubiquitous. It’s no wonder that it shows up in medicine.How does narrative feed medical language? “I have over 500 patients,” the heart surgeon raised her voice in exasperation. “I just want you to hear my side of the story,” the patient countered. Too late. The doctor had…
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When the doctor is the patient
Saleh AldasouqiEast Lansing, Michigan, United States I looked at my fingers, tender after a few glucose finger sticks to the middle and ring fingers of both hands, wondering which fingers to use the next day. No matter how user-friendly blood glucose testing devices have become, finger pricking remains a painful experience that patients with diabetes…
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Black man, white coat
Yeji LeeToronto, Canada There is a fine line between prejudice and experience, and it is a line that grows all the more important for someone who is a doctor. In his memoir, Black Man in a White Coat: A Doctor’s Reflections on Race and Medicine, Dr. Damon Tweedy ushers his readers through his years in…
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The truth in facts is a derelict ruin: Forging a self through fiction
Sara BakerAthens, Georgia, United States In his June 2, 2014 New Yorker article Inheritance,1 Ian Parker explores the connection between British novelist Edward St. Aubyn’s early traumatic life and his fiction. When we think of healing through writing, we usually think first of memoir and then perhaps of lyric poetry. Yet fiction offers advantages that…
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Book review: Creative Arts in Humane Medicine
Mary Ann McDermottChicago, Illinois, United States McLean’s new book is for all those interested in healthcare and the arts. The book compiles programming descriptions, “how to” instructions, small research studies, personal memoirs, and short essays by medicine, nursing, and dentistry professionals as well as by patients, social service professionals, artists, students, and others! The book…
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Two Scottish tales of medical compassion
James L. FranklinChicago, Illinois, United States Dr. John Raffensberger has served both a literary and humanistic cause by placing in our hands two stories that highlight the most admired traits in a physician, the traits of empathy and understanding that patients and their families require. This slim but handsome volume brings together two Scottish tales…