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jrlewis's picture

This is slightly

This is slightly tangential, but would it be useful to consider what is meant by the phrase "the art of medicine?" The portrayal of medical knowledge to the patient considered to be a work of art? Is the practice of medicine expression of a theory by the doctor (artist) to the patient (audience)?

Or is medincine more complex?

"Written on the body is a secret code only visible in certain lights: the accumulations of a lifetime gather there. In places the palimpsest is so heavily worked that the letters feel like Braille" (Written on the Body, Jeanette Winterson)

Is the doctor an artist using their patient as a piece of artwork? Who is the audiance for this work? What is being expressed? An ideal of life or lifestyle? What does this model imply about patient rights and agency?

What about "the art of teaching?" Both descriptions seem to fit.

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