Cell 2 Soul: The Humane Health Care Blog

Plato's Doctors

In Laws, Plato wrote that there are two classes of patients, slaves and freemen. And, similarly two kinds of doctors:  slave doctors and freemen doctors. Slave doctors run about and cure the slaves, or wait for them in the dispensaries; while free doctors attend and practice upon freemen. They carry enquiries far back, and go into the nature of the disorder. They enter into discourse with their patients, instructing them as far as they are able.  For the full quote go to: Download Plato Physician  .

      

So, what has changed since Plato made this observation?

The Care of the Patient by F.W. Peabody

Francis Weld Peabody’s The Care of the Patient is the most cited article in the medical literature.  This is even more impressive when one considers that it deals exclusively with the humane aspects of medicine and not science.   All care providers, patients and patient's family members  would benefit from reading and rereading it every few years.  It is especially important for medical students and trainees.  The Care of the Patient used to be on the web - but not any longer.  We had a student type it out a few years back and you can find it: Download The_care_of_the_patient 1

The Healer's Role

Neuroscientist, John Skoyles, wrote a fine essay on the role of the healer (physician, doctor, shaman, all others).  This is an important piece that explains the origin's of the care giver's function in human societies.  It is well worth reading, for as we embrace the technical and procedural model, we can lose sight of the responsibility we have to always  provide comfort.  The adage:  "To cure sometimes, to relieve often, to comfort always" holds true in all we do.

To read John Skoyles' piece see the PDF Download Skoyles.pdf

Schweitzer on Service

Almost 20 years ago, Dr. Art Brownstein passed this inspiring Schweitzer quote along to me.  I transcribed it and printed it out.  It sits on a window sill above my office desk.  Every few days, a patient reads it and remarks how much it means to them.  I wish I remembered to read it every day, since it heps one to be a better and more caring physician.

Diving-Bell and the Butterfly

The Diving-Bell and the Butterfly

David Warriner, FY1 general surgery, York
David.Warriner@york.nhs.uk

Translated from the French, The Diving-Bell and the Butterfly is a beautiful and poignant account of a 45 year old father of two falling victim to a catastrophic stroke. The resulting "locked-in syndrome" means he is unable to speak or move—his only means of interaction is through blinking his left eye.

This fine review appeared in the June 30, 2007 BMJ.  Download divingbell_butterfly.pdf

Osler Quotes

Over a decade ago, a friend gave me a copy of Harvey Cushing's The  Life of Sir William Osler.  He knew I admired Osler but  had read little of his work.  Somewhat  reluctantly, because of its forbidding length, I  waded into the volume and was swept away by the elegance of both  Cushing and Osler's writings.  You may be interested in perusing some of the selections which I highlighted.

Here is a .pdf which you can examine at your leisure.  Download life_of_osler.pdf  (The page numbers refer to the Oxford University Press one volume edition of 1940.)

Arrowsmith

Arrowsmith has a claim to be the greatest ever novel about medical research.
To read the review in the BMJ:
Download arrowsmith_bud_334_7592__539_bmj.pdf