Why do patients so often feel betrayed by their doctors? Is it only because, as so many in the profession suggest, patients bring inflated expectations to the medical encounter? Admittedly, this is sometimes the case. People living with serious or chronic conditions, however, have long ago been disabused of any such expectations. Illness memoirs, which, because they are written by those most well-placed to report, are vivid portrayals of what is wrong with the way medicine is practiced. By honoring the voices of patients, we intend to hold up, not the dramatic cases that frequently characterize medical ethics, but those humane values that patients rightly expect to guide every single medical encounter. Laura Doane, often referred to by her doctors as "an interesting case," will argue that no person can be wholly expressed in a case file, and any attempt to do so necessarily compromises her path to wellness. Sarah Stockbridge, a current college student, will speak to the harm done when patients are only objectified by their doctors without also understanding the lived experience of their condition. Jaspreet Chowdhary, a pre-med student, will show how the way medical practitioners view us when we are at our most vulnerable--as we are getting treatment--influences our perception of how others see us. Susan Stocker, a medical ethicist and survivor of various medical adventures, will examine illness narratives in light of what they suggest about reforming medical education.
Learning Objectives: faculty and students, each well acquainted with medical practice from having had sustained medical adventures, will present narrative accounts of how medicine is actually practiced, with attention to how it might be improved. Participants will be drawn into actual stories both of medical harm and of healing alternatives
Keywords: Ethics Training, Health Care Delivery
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: None
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.