Educating The Humanist Physician

Abstract

We must understand what man is, for he is the subject matter of the science of medicine for whom it is promulgated. To understand him is to understand the world, for he is similar to the world in his construction. He is the microcosm, the macrocosm in miniature. —The Caraka Samhita¹ IN THE growing litany of criticism to which our profession is increasingly exposed, there is one that in many ways is more painful than all the rest. It is the assertion that physicians are no longer humanists and that medicine is no longer a learned profession. Our technical proficiency is extolled, but in its application we are said to be insensitive to human values. We are, in short, presumed to be wanting as educated men and as responsive human beings. The assertion is painful because there is some truth in it. Moreover, it comes from those who experience