The Human Side of Medicine Quotes

“But not all patients and their families cope well and find relief. Not all resolve their fears and uncertainties and address their feelings. Those situations provide physicians and others yet another opportunity to intervene in a way that is healing, enriching, and strengthening for the patient and the family. While much of the time, the patient is the center of the drama, sometimes other important dramas are going on in the patient's family, and complex relationships need to be explored. Do we know the whole story? Do we really understand what it is like?
Only when we focus on the patient's experience do we begin to appreciate the richness, depth, and challenge of being a physician.”
― Laurence A. Savett, Human Side of Medicine, The: Learning What It's Like to Be a Patient and What It's Like to Be a Physician

“Even when there are no technical matters to deal with, no treatment to alter, and no tests to monitor, periodic encounters help to identify and address the patient's concerns and uncertainties, and that is an important part of patient care.”
― Laurence A. Savett, Human Side of Medicine, The: Learning What It's Like to Be a Patient and What It's Like to Be a Physician

“Scientist-philosopher Jacob Bronowski saw that "errors are inextricably bound up with the nature
of human knowledge."3 To that I add, errors are inextricably bound up with the nature of human behavior and judgments.”
― Laurence A. Savett, Human Side of Medicine, The: Learning What It's Like to Be a Patient and What It's Like to Be a Physician

“Hardly ever is this the first crisis the patient has faced. When we fail to speak honestly, we assume the patient cannot handle the information. Experience shows otherwise.”
― Laurence A. Savett, Human Side of Medicine, The: Learning What It's Like to Be a Patient and What It's Like to Be a Physician

“Serious illness is chaotic. Illness is not as simple as "I got sick and then I got better," but rather a series of ups and downs, surprises, catastrophes and rescues, and human reactions-some great and some disappointing-from patients, families, physicians, and other professionals. Physicians can acknowledge the chaos to patients. At the very least, they should not contribute to it with ill-chosen words, actions uncoordinated with other colleagues, or inaccessibility.”
― Laurence A. Savett, Human Side of Medicine, The: Learning What It's Like to Be a Patient and What It's Like to Be a Physician

“Illness is a stress superimposed on the patient's ongoing drama of life.”
― Laurence A. Savett, Human Side of Medicine, The: Learning What It's Like to Be a Patient and What It's Like to Be a Physician

“Illness has symbolic meaning to patients, and patients have psychological reactions to illness.”
― Laurence A. Savett, Human Side of Medicine, The: Learning What It's Like to Be a Patient and What It's Like to Be a Physician

“Each diagnosis and problem has its own set of issues. If the story and the history are incomplete, then the definition of the issues will be inaccurate and the actions taken may be neither appropriate nor beneficial.”
― Laurence A. Savett, Human Side of Medicine, The: Learning What It's Like to Be a Patient and What It's Like to Be a Physician

“The task of the physician is to appreciate what it's like to be in the patient's situation, to clearly define the patient's needs, and then to help the patient meet those needs.”
― Laurence A. Savett, Human Side of Medicine, The: Learning What It's Like to Be a Patient and What It's Like to Be a Physician

“We may not be able to finish the task; even so, we shouldn't shrink from it.”
― Laurence A. Savett, Human Side of Medicine, The: Learning What It's Like to Be a Patient and What It's Like to Be a Physician