Building Power Between Polarities: On the Space-in-Between

Pursuing Humanistic Medicine in a Technological Age

The humanistic practice of medicine requires that the practitioner have sufficient time and appropriate focus. Both elements, however, are under assault by the high-speed, distraction-filled environment within which primary care is delivered today. Despite or perhaps because of modern medicine’s technological advances, the potentially healing bond between doctor and patient is being frayed and the quality of care consequently degraded.

Looking Within: Intentions of Practice for Person-Centered Care

In order to integrate the biological, psychological, social, and existential dimensions of care into my day-to-day clinical encounters with patients, I have worked to cultivate several intentions of practice. These intentions of practice-habits of mind that nurture my resolve to attend to patients as complex human beings- help me navigate my interactions with patients and families in ways that are simultaneously efficacious and therapeutic. When routinely recalled and adeptly implemented, they are what distinguish me as a competent and capable practitioner of person-centered care, when I am at my best, from when I am not. I present them here in hopes that others may find them useful as they progress down their ongoing paths as healing physicians.