Write a brief paper of 1-2 pages (500-600 words) on ONE of the five choices provided in the readings for week 4. View the rubric, Assignment Guidelines and the feedback on your first short paper befor
ENG 3010 Trauma and Recovery: Medicine and Literature Week 4
Week 4 - When Breath Becomes Air (Part I) - intro video (19:16)
Readings, Videos & Podcasts:
‘Physician heal thyself’ (Ἰατρέ, θεράπευσον σεαυτόν) - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Physician,_heal_thyself
Luke 4:23 (interlinear) - https://biblehub.com/interlinear/luke/4-23.htm
Gerada C (2016). Physician, heal thyself? The Hippocratic Post. 24 March 2016.
Allison, K. C. (2000). Kenosis.
Gawande, Atul (2016). The independent self. Being Mortal. New York: Metropolitan Books, 2016. 11-24.
Kalanithi, Paul (2016). Prologue & Part I: In Perfect Health I Begin. When Breath Becomes Air. Pages 3-115.
Self-check questions:
What does “physician heal thyself” imply?
Atul Gawande discusses the independent self with two contrasting individuals one being his father. What values underlie the conception (story, narrative) of the independent self? Did it mean the same thing in India and in the USA? Were the focus on the interdependent self would the values be any different? Is something to be learned or offered to others in the state of a dependent self as death nears?
What is the relationship between the living and the dead in the anatomy lab? Is there a covenant between the living and the dead in the anatomy lab? Anatomical donation is a gift. What is given and what is received? After reading Part I of When Breath Becomes Air would you be more or less disposed toward this?
To be a patient is not what one wishes to be (bracketing a disorder). Consider Paul Kalanithi (and a little of yourself if practicing in a health field): What changes and what remains when one changes scrubs for a patient’s gown in case of serious illness? Is a physician-patient in an ironic state of being? Does a health practitioner as a patient have advantages? Disadvantages?
What is the difference between the following two expressions (from Paul Kalanithi)?
“it is irresponsible to be more precise than you can be accurate”
“I came to believe that it is irresponsible to be more precise than you are accurate.”
(what if politicians were to adopt this ethic? …. Oh my!)
Paul writes: “The cost of my dedication to succeed was high, and the ineluctable failures brought me nearly unbearable guilt. Those burdens are what make medicine holy and wholly impossible: in taking up another’s cross, one must sometimes get crushed by the weight.” (p.98)
What does it mean that medicine is holy? If so, what place do physicians fill?
What is the significance of this or other religious imagery in his descriptions?
How is neurosurgery different from other medical disciplines? Is it a humanistic discipline (in the sense of the humanum )? Paul also had an MA in English literature. Would that make for a better surgeon or doctor?
To do:
Discussion
Atul Gawande discusses the independent self contrasting aging in India and the US..
What values underlie the conception (story, narrative) of the independent self?
Did the independent self mean the same thing in India as in the USA?
Were the focus on the ‘interdependent self’ would values be different?
What can be learned or offered to others from a dependent self as death nears?
Short Paper on one of the following (fielder’s choice).
What is the relationship between the living and the dead in the anatomy lab? Is there a covenant between living and the dead in this? Anatomical donation is a gift. What is exchanged - given and received? After reading Part I of When Breath Becomes Air, are you more or less disposed toward this?
To be a patient is not what one wishes to be (bracketing a disorder). Consider Paul Kalanithi (and a little of yourself if practicing in a health field): What changes and what remains when one exchanges scrubs for a patient’s gown in serious illness? Is physician-patient (or nurse-patient) an ironic state of being? What advantages or disadvantages does this bring.
What makes the difference between the following expressions (edited from Paul K. here regarding speaking with patients)?
“it is irresponsible to be more precise than you can be accurate”
“I came to believe that it is irresponsible to be more precise than you are accurate.”
(what if politicians were to adopt this ethic? …. Oh my!)
Paul writes: “The cost of my dedication to succeed was high, and the ineluctable failures brought me nearly unbearable guilt. Those burdens are what make medicine holy and wholly impossible: in taking up another’s cross, one must sometimes get crushed by the weight.” (p.98)
What does it mean that medicine is holy? What place do physicians fill?
Why include this or other religious reference? (to mind: Luke 23:24 or Luke 9:23-25 or others perhaps for you)
How is neurosurgery different from other medical disciplines? Is it a humanistic discipline (in the sense of the humanum)? Paul had an MA in English literature. Would that make for a better surgeon or doctor?
