Tidsskrift for den Norske lægeforening : tidsskrift for praktisk medicin, ny række
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From superstition and witchcraft, to detailed scientific insight into the human body in health and disease: Stupendous though the development of medical science has been over the last few centuries, it does not in itself give doctors a sufficient basis for meeting their patients and the people around them. In these interpersonal encounters, fundamental, immaterial values are the all-important basis. These values and their place in life are not visible in science itself, hence the humanities and the arts offer approaches and inspiration that are of the greatest value in the education of doctors at all levels.
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Tidsskr. Nor. Laegeforen. · Dec 2000
Comparative Study[Are emergency admissions to medical departments dependent on weather?].
It is widely believed that patients are more frequently admitted to hospital in bad weather. ⋯ Both the incidence of disease and doctor availability may partially explain the influence of weather and the daily variation in emergency admissions to hospital.
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At the Karolinska Institute, Stockholm's medical university, a new academic discipline was established in 1998. Humanistic medicine, or medical humanities, is a response to the need in an increasing technological medicine for a humanistic dimension in medical education and clinical practice. ⋯ At the Karolinska Institute, the discipline has three aspects: medical history, philosophy of medical science, and the "medical meeting", i.e. issues such as: What happens in the relation between patient and caregiver? What is the art of medicine? How is suffering and disease expressed in art and literature? Medical humanities can be a tool for critical reexamination and a radical reorientation of the ethos of medicine. After all, health care is at its very core a moral project.
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"The two cultures", a concept launched by C. P. Snow in 1959, points to the schism between science and the humanities, two distinct professional cultures which not only has gone separate ways, but also developed deep tensions between them. ⋯ However, contemporary doctors see themselves first and foremost as scientists, and modern medicine leaves little scope for the tradition of the humanities. Including humanities in medical undergraduate, graduate and continuous education does not necessarily make doctors more humane, but insight in these disciplines may stimulate reflection and broaden their perspective on the practice of medicine. Given the expectations and pressures for efficiency to which doctors and other health care workers are subjected, a greater emphasis on the humanities in medicine may be of help to doctors in coping with their patients, society--and themselves.