The Nature of Clinical Medicine : The Return of the Clinician

Clinical medicine, as a thinking discipline, is concerned not only with what clinicians do, but why. When physicians act in medicine they have some purpose or goal in mind. What they actually do and how they go about it is in the service of their purposes and their goals. Such goals cover a wide range of topics centering on patients, the doctor-patient relationship, the acts of doctoring patients, and the goals involved in being a physician among other physicians working within the institutions of medicine.__The Nature of Clinical Medicine__ takes its direction from a catalog of goals of medicine that range from the expected diagnosis and treatment of diseases to wider concerns for patients, for physicians, and for medicine itself. The chapters are specific in teaching the kinds of knowledge that clinicians require in order to be able to achieve these goals. The central focus of the clinician and of this book is the patient. According to Eric Cassell, everything else, including the disease, is secondary.Using many examples from real-life medical practice, each chapter examines the different kinds of thought involved in caring for the patient. Cassell takes on a variety of difficult issues, from thinking about values to developing wisdom. The care of the dying, what thinking itself is, and finally, why would one want to do this exciting and rewarding but difficult work, come under discussion in this book. Clinical medicine, as a thinking discipline, is concerned not only with what clinicians do, but why. When physicians act in medicine they have some purpose or goal in mind. What they actually do and how they go about it is in the service of their purposes and their goals. Such goals cover a wide range of topics centering on patients, the doctor-patient relationship, the acts of doctoring patients, and the goals involved in being a physician among other physicians working within the institutions of medicine. The Nature of Clinical Medicine takes its direction from a catalog of goals of medicine that range from the expected diagnosis and treatment of diseases to wider concerns for patients, for physicians, and for medicine itself. The chapters are specific in teaching the kinds of knowledge that clinicians require in order to be able to achieve these goals. The central focus of the clinician and of this book is the patient. According to Eric Cassell, everything else, including the disease, is secondary. Using many examples from real-life medical practice, each chapter examines the different kinds of thought involved in caring for the patient. Cassell takes on a variety of difficult issues, from thinking about values to developing wisdom. The care of the dying, what thinking itself is, and finally, why would one want to do this exciting and rewarding but difficult work, come under discussion in this book. Clinical Medicine Is Concerned With Not Only What Clinicians Do But Also The Reasons They Do What They Do. When Physicians Act In Medicine They Have Some Purpose Or Goal In Mind. What They Actually Do And How They Go About It Is In The Service Of Their Purposes And Their Goals. Such Goals Are Related To The Doctor-patient Relationship And To The Acts Of Doctoring Patients And Are Involved In Being A Physician Among Other Physicians Working Within The Institutions Of Medicine. This Book Examines Clinical Medicine And How Clinicians - Physicians Who Care For Patients - Accomplish These Tasks. The Goals Of Medicine -- A Story About A Patient With Aortic Stenosis -- What Are Facts In Medicine? -- Clarify The Chain Of Events That Led To The Present State : The Case As A Narrative -- The Case Of Myra Manner -- Examine Your Presuppositions And Preconceptions -- Separate And Examine The Values At Issue -- A Question Of Judgment -- The Patient, The Doctor, And The Relationship -- Observation, Prognosis, And Prognosticating -- Thinking In Medicine -- Accepting The Challenge. Eric J. Cassell. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. Cover 1 The Nature of Clinical Medicine 4 Copyright 5 Dedication 6 Contents 8 Acknowledgments 10 Introduction 18 Chapter 1 The Goals of Medicine 44 Chapter 2 A Story about a Patient with Aortic Stenosis, and a Commentary 68 Chapter 3 What Are Facts in Medicine? 88 Chapter 4 Clarify the Chain of Events that Led to the Present State: The Case as a Narrative 104 Chapter 5 The Case of Myra Manner 124 Chapter 6 Examine Your Presuppositions and Preconceptions 148 Chapter 7 Separate and Examine the Values at Issue 172 Chapter 8 A Question of Judgment 208 Chapter 9 The Patient, the Doctor, and the Relationship 232 Chapter 10 Observation, Prognosis, and Prognosticating 258 Chapter 11 Thinking in Medicine 286 Chapter 12 Accepting the Challenge 318 Index 336 The Nature of Clinical Medicine takes its direction from a catalog of goals of medicine that range from the expected diagnosis and treatment of diseases to wider concerns for patients, for physicians, and for medicine itself. Eric Cassell is specific in teaching the kinds of knowledge that clinicians require in order to be able to achieve these goals.