There’s a doctor and bluegrass musician called Dr Tom Bibey left a comment on one of my posts and you know how it is with the net…..you can’t resist following the trails, so I popped across and browsed his blog. What a treat! Here’s a quote from one of his posts –
Folks who believe they know a patient by the paper they keep are so naive. The impact of sitting at someone’s kitchen table and sifting through the array of pills from different Docs the patient ”thinks” they might be taking is powerful. Everyone trying so mightily to pass rules to govern human behavior needs to make a few house calls before they get so dadburn high and mighty as to their perceived importance.
See, to me, that’s wisdom. Yes, we need our statistics and our research, and our science, but there really is something called the art of medicine, and people who have no experience of it, probably don’t understand it. To be a good doctor though I think involves making use of the whole self – the brain and the heart – understanding how things work, how to interpret science, but also learning how to relate, how to be compassionate and caring every single day, with every single patient. Without that, you never really get to know anyone and without knowing them, you’ve no way of understanding them, and without understanding you’re working in delusion not reality.
Heroes Not Zombies 
I couldn’t agree more, there is no substitute for just listening to the person who has come for help, often they are then empowered to see the answer within themselves. As a practitioner it is such a privilege when that happens and to witness it.
Thanks for your wonderful post!
In medical terms; such a good diagnosis, but the difficulty is trying to see the adequate treatment! 🙂 There, the issue begins.
Andrés
oh you’re so right! But you know what? That’s our challenge. I honestly believe that by making connections, by inspiring each other and by stimulating each other to think and to do, we’ll find the cure!