From Reading to Healing: Teaching Medical Professionalism through Literature edited by Susan Stagno and Michael Blackie, Ohio: The Kent State University Press, 2019

摘要

Wearing a crisp white lab coat, stethoscope draped across the back of the neck. Spouting scientific or medical lingo. A serious demeanor but with an air of politeness. Frequent and thorough washing of one's hands. While these things might suggest that a doctor is in the building, they do not, by themselves, affix medical professionalism to an individual. Not even an MD degree along with allegiance to the Hippocratic Oath or Prayer of Maimonides automatically confers genuine medical professionalism. So exactly what does? From Reading to Healing explores two fundamental issues: How do we best define medical professionalism? How can educators teach it (if indeed it can be "taught")? Thirty-nine contributors (more than one-third of whom specialize in psychiatry) share their approaches using literary works as a tool in teaching professionalism to medical students. Employing works of literature - poems, short stories, novels - to kindle medical professionalism is hardly a new concept. Decades ago, Joanne Trautmann proposed that reading literature could boost the "capacity" of medical students to cultivate compassion and empathy. Medical professionalism might be a bit tricky to define in words, but we mostly know it when we see and sense its presence. And we are certainly aware of its absence in cases of unprofessional behavior. Professionalism includes standards of knowledge and behavior, interpersonal skills, ethical values, perhaps the ability to perform particular procedures, maybe certain attire and language. Integrity is vital. For health professionals, the list should include altruism, compassion, honesty, and caution in the wielding of authority.