Learn to Master the Art of Medicine

Learn to Master The Art of Medicine.

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People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel. ~ Maya Angelo

This couldn’t be truer than in the field of medicine. As students you work tirelessly to master the science of medicine there is often little consideration of the art of medicine.

It is the art that teaches you to earn the patients respect and trust. Without which they will not communicate their complete story and will not follow your advice. This book is a thorough guide on your journey to mastering the art of medicine. The book is a unique reference for medical students and outlines in an anecdotal, yet pedagogical manner what one should expect and what is expected of a doctor when embarking on a career in medicine. The book describes in clear terms the responsibilities, expectations, and appropriate collegial interactions through the implementation of historical, moral, and ethical narrative techniques. The book also addresses common but difficult interpersonal problems all practitioners deal with that require empathy including delivering bad news working with families, sexual and medical student harassment, the importance of diversity and recognizing and managing medical burnout. The book is comprehensive, socially conscious, and written in an engaging yet didactic narrative style.

William Osler’s Guide to the “Art of Medicine” Osler quotes from The quotable Osler ed by Mark E. Silverman, MD T. Jock Murray, MD Charles S. Bryan MD American College of Physicians Philadelphia 2003.

1. Our study is man, as the subject of accidents or disease. Were he always, inside and outside, cast in the same mold, instead of differing from his fellow man as much in constitution and in his reaction to stimulus as in feature, we should ere this have reached some settled principles in our art.

2. The practice of medicine is an art, not a trade; a calling, not a business, a calling in which your heart will be exercised equally with your head.

3. Errors in judgement must occur in the practice of an art which consists largely of balancing probabilities.

4. The art of the practice of medicine is to be learned only by experience; ‘tis not an inheritance; it cannot be revealed. Learn to see, learn to hear, learn to feel, learn to smell, and know that by practice alone can you become expert.

5. The practitioner too often gets into a habit of mind which resents the thought that opinion, not full knowledge, must be his stay and prop.

There is no discredit, though there is at times, much discomfort, in this everlasting Perhaps with which we have to preface so much connected with the practice of our art.

6. Once gain the confidence of a patient and inspire him with hope, and the battle is half won.

7. Taking a lady’s hand gives her confidence in her physician.

8. What is your duty in the matter of telling a patient that he is probably the subject of an incurable disease?...One thing is certain; it is not for you to don the black cap—take hope from any patient “hope that comes to all.”

9. A physician needs a clear head and a kind heart: his work is arduous and complex, requiring the exercise of the very highest faculties of the mind, while constantly appealing to the emotions and finer feelings.

10. The man who translates the hieroglyphics of science into the plain language of healing is certainly the more useful.

11. Punctuality is the prime essential of a physician—if invariably on time he will succeed even in the face of professional mediocrity.

12. The whole art of medicine is in observation­—but to educate the eye to see, the ear to hear, and the finger to feel takes time.

13. We, the doctors, are so fallible, ever beset with the common fatal facility of reaching conclusions from superficial observations, and constantly misled by the ease with which one minds fall into the ruts of one or two experiences.

14. Remember, however, that every patient upon whom you wait will examine you critically and form an estimate of you by the way in which you conduct yourself at the bedside.

Skill and nicety in manipulation—will do more towards establishing confidence in you, than a string of Diplomas, or the reputation of extensive hospital experience.

15. Care more particularly for the individual patient than for the special features of the disease.

Medicine is a dichotomy fashioned in an ingenious manner by the blending of two elements, each necessary in the successful application of the profession to her mission of healing. The science of medicine on the one hand is that broad stream swollen by the many factual tributaries from which those possessing the necessary mental receptacles may dip and assuage their thirst for knowledge. This essential component is never lost with the death of the contributors but lives on to water and give growth to those who follow in their footsteps.

The other fraction of this unit might best be designated as the art of medicine, a fraction which during the past decades has grown smaller and smaller. This element pertains to the application of the science of medicine and that delicate mechanism brought into play by physician-patient relationship; and, in contradistinction to the science of medicine, the art cannot be passed on from generation to generation in a cumulative sense, but rather must be learned anew by each neophyte of the medical profession. In the early dawn of the healing profession there was much art and but little science, whereas modern medicine has acquired a broad foundation of science with but little time for the artistic application of these newly discovered facts.

No one would advocate a return to the pseudoscientific era of witchcraft and quackery, and yet many will admit that in the process of rapid emergence into the so-called golden age of scientific medicine something was lost along the way. Scientific medical facts may present a certain antiseptic beauty but lacking the human warmth of the art of application will chill the recipient patient thus diluting the therapeutic effectiveness. Human nature responds in greater measure to a healing potion dispensed in a vehicle leavened with the personal interest of the dispenser. ~ Melvin A. Casberg, M.D.

J. Willis Hurst — Emory’s Master linician and Teacher par Excellence

Manners, Morals and Medical Care How to be an Effective Physician.

A book that explains what we mean when we say “the good doctor treats the disease, the great doctor treats the patient with the disease.”

As students you work so hard to master the science of medicine there is often little consideration of the art of medicine.

It is the art that teaches you to earn the patients respect and trust. Without which they will not communicate their complete story and will not follow your advice, complete the suggested tests, or take the recommended medications.

There is a chapter on recognizing sexual and medical student harassment, bias and discrimination and appropriate responses.

The book provides a practical guide for the student and the medical professional on bedside behavior in the clinic and hospital.

Provides clinical scenarios of ethical and professional dilemma for group discussion.

Alerts the trainee and young health professional to avoidable situations and offers rationals of how good manners can help navigate the complexities of interactions in the clinic and the hospital.

Use this QR Code to purchase the book ($39.99 eBook or $49.99 Softcover)

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Thank you so very much for sending me your superb book (Manners, Morals, and Medical Care: How to be an Effective Physician). I really enjoyed and appreciated reading it. It brought me back more than a half century when medicine was a “calling” and physicians were respected. Although the current technologies for both diagnosis and management are dazzling, emphasis on finances and moving patients rapidly through the system has neglected the qualities that patients expect and deserve. Your book should be required reading by every student before they receive the MD degree.

Dr. Eugene Braunwald; the distinguished Hersey Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School (HMS) and faculty dean for academic programs at Partners Healthcare System.