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Practice Commentary
Vahe A. Keukjian, MD
Arch Fam Med. 1994;3(6):556.
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| Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text PDF and any section headings. |
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I commend Dr Sorum for applying some of the less abstruse—believe me!—musings of contemporary critical theory to a profoundly literary event: the clinical encounter. Physicians rarely talk like that, and, as often happens when something we take for granted is closely analyzed, Dr Sorum's conclusions may seem needlessly complicated or impractical.
After all, a lot of people just want us to remove their sebaceous cysts or check their kids' ears. A community physician who has to see patients every 10 or 12 minutes to pay the office overhead would be a basket case by the day's very late end if he or she practiced so philosophically. But sheer practicality is a false idol.
The call of medicine is the call of stories. We are the intimate strangers in other people's lives. Our patients admit us, on little introduction, to their worries and secrets, at the deepest level of trust and
. . . [Full Text PDF of this Article]
Author Affiliations
Hudson, NY
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