From Detached Concern To Empathy: Humanising Medical Practice

Abstract

Is medicine an art or a science? The question was being asked 30 years ago and I hope it will continue to be asked in 30 years time. Today’s climate of evidence based medicine, research, and ever demanding and demanded counting of patients, staff, time, trolleys, and operations suggests that medicine is a science. A few brave people, often working in the field of palliative care, suggest otherwise. Jodi Halpern, psychiatrist, medical ethicist, and philosopher, argues that the traditional medical stance of detached concern—that is, “not being moved or influenced emotionally …