Medicine as Ministry

[Guest guest]

Dear list,

For several years now I have been listening to NPR provided to us by AFN's AM

programme.

I became a subscriber to

http://www.charactercounts.org/knxwk456.htm

Maybe some of our list will enjoy the statement I found in my letterbox.

Best to you all,

Katharina

--------------------FW / quote:

Doctoring With a Heart  456.4

When you visit a medical specialist, an emergency room or a patient in

the hospital, are you ever struck by a sense that many doctors are so

focused on the scientific aspects of diagnosis and treatment of illness

or injury that they ignore, maybe even become annoyed by, things like

pain, fear or anxiety?

In her book " Medicine as Ministry, " Dr. Margaret Mohrmann, a professor

of pediatrics at the University of Virginia, proposes a dramatically

different perspective. If accepted, it could drastically change the

nature of medical training and treatment.

She contends that doctors tend to view their roles and responsibilities

too narrowly. The ultimate object of medicine, she says, is not just to

diagnose and cure disease, but to alleviate suffering. In other words,

doctors should see themselves as healers, not merely scientists.

" The practice of the ministry of medicine, " she adds, " is the practice

of paying attention. " Being attentive means sensing, treating seriously

and responding appropriately to the myriad feelings that inevitably

accompany illness and injury.

In her view, the most needed remedy for the kinds of suffering doctors

face daily is not more or better painkilling drugs, but more genuine

caring. She says doctors should listen more even if it makes them weep.

She believes true compassion and empathy are healing agents for pain

and anxiety. Genuine gestures of concern -- from a comforting squeeze

of the hand to a follow-up phone call or visit -- can be as important

as prescriptions and surgical procedures.

I think she`s right. It takes a kind of moral courage for a doctor to

keep an open heart. But what a huge difference it would make.

This is phson reminding you that character counts.

-------------------end FW / quote.

Mit freundlichen Gruessen

Katharina Gutsche

Sincere regards,

Katharina

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Dipl.-Psych. Katharina Gutsche, M.A. Psycholinguistik

Heilpraktikerin (Psychotherapie)

Klinische Psychologie