Literary narrative in medical practice

Abstract

It is generally accepted that the practice of medicine could be improved by turning to the humanities in general, and to narrative and text interpretation in particular. Neverthless, there is hardly any agreement as to the nature of the clinical text, whether it be the patient's narrative that needs to be richly understood, or the patient as patient who must be both personally and clinically deciphered.We suggest that literary narratives depicting medical situations might serve as testimonials of the way medicine has or is being practised in a variety of social settings, and of the ways patients experience disease and medical care. By reading these texts, health care professionals could compare the situations and values involved in such narratives with current medical practices, thus perceiving how clinical encounters have changed and improved or, perhaps, continue to carry a burden of past flaws.

“As intermitências da morte” no ensino da ética e bioética

“…Considered applied ethics, bioethics deals with analyzing moral arguments in favor and against certain human practices that affect the quality of life and well-being of humankind and other human beings, as well as quality of the environment 3 . Every human being is capable of making moral judgments and it will be developed according to characteristics and interaction opportunities of subjects with their environment and stimulus to ethical reflections 4 .…”

A Voluntary Medical Humanities Module in a Medical College in Western Nepal: Participant Feedback

“…4 Drama can teach oral communication and philosophy can teach the skill of analyses and argument. 5 The study of the history of medicine can underline the transient nature of much of the medical knowledge and emphasize the importance of keeping up to date. 5 The humanities will allow medical students to meet teachers and students from other disciplines and may foster better relationships between doctors and the "outside world."…”

“…5 The study of the history of medicine can underline the transient nature of much of the medical knowledge and emphasize the importance of keeping up to date. 5 The humanities will allow medical students to meet teachers and students from other disciplines and may foster better relationships between doctors and the "outside world." They provide the experience of a "counter culture" to medicine.…”

“…They provide the experience of a "counter culture" to medicine. 5 MH programs are becoming increasingly common in developed countries. The program at the University of California, Irvine, United States, was started informally in 1997.…”

The disease-subject as a subject of literature

“…Scholars do not agree, though, what the text might be, candidates including the patient's narrative, his body signs, or the process of transforming patient histories into medical language [2]. Perusal of literary texts has also been recommended to train medical students' sensitivity by reading testimonial documents, and to become familiar with the features of clinical encounters of the past [3]. There is hardly any need to reinforce the well established intertwinement of literature and medicine; instead, the present text will focus upon the very specific moment when major disease alienates the subject from its lived body and requires a reappraisal of this relationship.…”