An empirical and philosophical exploration of clinical practice

Philosophy, Ethics, and Humanities in Medicine : PEHM
Michael SaragaAbraham Fuks

Abstract

Previous empirical work among physicians has led us to propose that clinical practice is experienced by clinicians as an engagement-in-the-clinical-situation. In this study, we pursue our exploration of clinical practice 'on its own terms' by turning to the experience of patients. Phenomenological analysis of in-depth individual interviews with 8 patients. We describe the patient experience as a set of three motifs: the shock on the realization of the illness, the chaos of the health care environment, and the anchor point provided by an engaged physician. We draw on Heidegger's notion of solicitude to show that patients are actively ascertaining the physician's engagement in their care. These findings lead us to question the classical "dual discourse" of medicine that offers a dichotomous account of clinical practice as the addition of care to cure, art to science, humanism to technique, and person to medical case. We found no such distinctions in our empirical investigation of clinical practice. Rather, in our synthesis, practice appears as a unitary experience. The physician's solicitude for the patient entrains engagement in the clinical situation. Moreover, the solicitous, engaged physician constitutes an anchor point for t...Continue Reading

References

Jul 1, 1977·The Medical Clinics of North America·A Reading
May 1, 1980·The American Journal of Psychiatry·G L Engel
Aug 15, 2000·Research in Nursing & Health·M Sandelowski
Dec 18, 2002·Medical Humanities·John Saunders
Jun 27, 2006·Academic Medicine : Journal of the Association of American Medical Colleges·Peter F WeissmannRichard M Frankel
Nov 11, 2008·Perspectives in Biology and Medicine·Richard L Cruess, Sylvia R Cruess
Jan 22, 2015·Academic Medicine : Journal of the Association of American Medical Colleges·Philippe KarazivanPaule Lebel
Jan 1, 2014·Perspectives in Biology and Medicine·Michael SaragaJ Donald Boudreau
May 10, 2018·Medicine, Health Care, and Philosophy·Michael SaragaAbraham Fuks
May 16, 2018·The Western Journal of Emergency Medicine·Kristi L Koenig

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Citations

Jan 21, 2020·European Journal of Cancer Care·Giada DanesiMichael Saraga
Aug 26, 2020·Palliative & Supportive Care·Céline BourquinMichael Saraga
Dec 10, 2021·Physiotherapy Theory and Practice·Michelle J KleinerDavid M Walton

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Methods Mentioned

BETA
biopsy

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