Literature and medicine: contributions to clinical practice

Article Abstract:

Studying literature in medical school may help physicians better understand their patients and the practice of medicine. The value of literary knowledge is increasingly recognized by medical schools, and by 1994, about one-third of schools included such courses in their curricula. Great works of literature can give physicians insight into how patients experience illness and impending death, especially within different cultural contexts. Literary works also help physicians perceive their societal roles in greater depth. The study of narrative in literature can improve communication between physicians and patients. Medical ethics in literature is another important area of study. Finally, the study of literary theory can develop physicians' critical thinking skills and broaden their perspectives on the study of medicine. Physicians who study literature attest to the positive effects it has in their practices.

Medicine, Study and teaching, Literature, Literature and medicine

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Medicine, the Novel, and the Passage of Time

Article Abstract:

The author approaches the factor of time in the medical life of a patient by suggesting that doctors should read a medical history as they might read a novel. She considers it a necessity for effective care to read the medical history side by side with such novelists as Henry James or Thomas Mann, looking for the patterns and themes in a patient's life and also considering their own -- the doctors' -- relationship with the patient, recognizing the connections which are there.

History, Physician and patient, Physician-patient relations

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Narrative medicine: form, function, and ethics

Article Abstract:

A doctor discusses her experience writing about her patients and sharing her essays with them. This is one of the five forms of narrative medicine, which also includes medical fiction, the lay exposition, medical autobiography, and writing exercises of medical training.

Personal narratives, Physicians, Medical professions, Narration (Rhetoric), Narration

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