In a recent On Being a Doctor, Dr. Stepanyan discusses the need to preserve humanism in the practice of medicine, but explores the idea that humanism manifests itself in many different ways.
Use this essay to:
- Listen to an audio recording of the essay, read by Michael LaCombe, MD, Associate Editor for On Being a Doctor.
- What do you consider "humanistic care" of patients? What challenges are there to preserving it?
- Dr. Stepanyan fears learning "…how to not care or not feel sad when someone died." Do you share this fear?
- Try to learn something about your patients not related to their medical condition. What do they look forward to the most? What's on their "bucket lists"? Do they have partners? How did they meet? How did they end up practicing whatever profession they do?