Staying human in medicine: the danger of isolation and the power of good connection

2021-03-24

University of Virginia. School of Medicine

Physician-writer Samuel Shem's iconic black humor-laced novel, The House of God (1978), written while he was a resident, was an exposé of medicine's often-heartless training culture at the time. The book became unofficial required reading for generations of persons going into medicine. His most recent novel, Man's 4th Best Hospital (2020), appeared when clinician morale was low, burnout rampant, and physician suicide on the rise; if anything, the COVID pandemic has exacerbated these conditions. In this Hook Lecture, Shem discusses how his books arose out of perceived injustice to take the measure of medicine's culture, and how he has used fiction both to resist injustice and to call upon doctors, nurses, and others to reclaim their once-humane calling.

Edward W. Hook Memorial Lecture in Medicine and the Arts
Medicine Grand Rounds
Co-presented with the Department of Medicine and with generous support from the School of Medicine's Anderson Lectures

Shem, Samuel (Speaker); Childress, Marcia Day (Moderator); University of Virginia. School of Medicine

Claude Moore Health Sciences Library

Filmed lectures

Physician and patient; Medical ethics; Medical education

Medical Center Hour

Claude Moore Health Sciences Library

English

IN COPYRIGHT - EDUCATIONAL USE PERMITTED This Rights Statement can be used only for copyrighted Items for which the organization making the Item available is the rights-holder or has been explicitly authorized by the rights-holder(s) to allow third parties to use the Work for educational purposes without first obtaining permission. URI: http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC-EDU/1.0/

1 online resource (1 video file, 61:32 min.) : sound, color