Healing

William B. Ventres

doi:10.1370/afm.1889

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Author response: Healing 2.0
William Ventres

Published on: 25 January 2016
Cura Personalis in the Age of Healing
Samuel J. McAleese

Published on: 25 January 2016
Author Response to Dr. Egnew
William Ventres

Published on: 14 January 2016
A Refreshing Reminder
Thomas Egnew

Published on: 14 January 2016

Published on: (25 January 2016)
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Author response: Healing 2.0
William Ventres, Family Physician
There are many ways to formulate the sense of personal and collective purpose that I tried to convey. I really enjoyed reading the "Cura Personalis" vision that guides doctor-to-be McAleese (and Dr. Marchalik) at Georgetown. I absolutely agree with them that we--and the values that sustain us--are works in progress! Thank you very much for your contribution.
Here is another addition, from a senior Latin America...
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There are many ways to formulate the sense of personal and collective purpose that I tried to convey. I really enjoyed reading the "Cura Personalis" vision that guides doctor-to-be McAleese (and Dr. Marchalik) at Georgetown. I absolutely agree with them that we--and the values that sustain us--are works in progress! Thank you very much for your contribution.
Here is another addition, from a senior Latin American physician, psychiatrist, ethicist and professor of medicine. His guiding word is vocation:
"What do I mean by a vocation? It is essentially a sense of being called to serve. Health care shares some characteristics with other service vocations--teachers, emergency responders, pastors and other religious workers, and even honest politicians and public servants: empathy, compassion, engagement and a wish to be of use." (1)
I encourage others to bring forward their visions and comments on healing.
1. Gonzalez RA. The vocation to serve: Cornerstone of health care. MEDICC Rev. 2012;14(3):52.
Competing interests: None declared
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Competing Interests: None declared.
Published on: (25 January 2016)
Page navigation anchor for Cura Personalis in the Age of Healing
Cura Personalis in the Age of Healing
Samuel J. McAleese, Medical Student
Other Contributors:
In his essay Healing, Dr. William Ventres explores the importance of developing a deeply personal and reflective approach to medicine. Reading Dr. Ventres' essay, I was struck by the parallel between his guiding principles and those espoused by every medical student who recites the Hippocratic Oath. In many ways, the call for a personal ethos, to "steer our own destinies as active participants in healing," is less a call...
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In his essay Healing, Dr. William Ventres explores the importance of developing a deeply personal and reflective approach to medicine. Reading Dr. Ventres' essay, I was struck by the parallel between his guiding principles and those espoused by every medical student who recites the Hippocratic Oath. In many ways, the call for a personal ethos, to "steer our own destinies as active participants in healing," is less a call for new discoveries within medicine than a renewal of our basic professional responsibilities as healers. As a third year medical student, now, more than every before, I am beginning to grasp the gravity behind that promise.
At Georgetown, we have our own ethos -- the Jesuit tradition of Cura Personalis, or "care for the whole person" -- that underpins our education and clinical practice. From our first day as students, we were reminded of the often missed aspects of patients' lives those bits of history that have little to do ostensibly with a disease process but that still play a major role in their health: spirituality, friends and family, their upbringing and cultural beliefs. As I enter the clinical years of my medical education, my perspective seems to have evolved as well. In spending every day in the hospital, I have witnessed numerous patients both coming into this world, and leaving it. Such experiences have given me a humility about my own life and my profession that simply were not possible two years before. There are inherent limits placed on medicine just as there are inherent limits placed on life.
Physicians are welcomed into people's lives to play an integral part during patients' most vulnerable moments. They are subject to the inevitability that this very process--caring for another person--changes their own experiences and perspectives. In that sense, Cura Personalis is an evolving idea: a recognition that our own changing experiences are a piece in the puzzle of healing patients. By virtue of this fluidity, a personal ethos is itself ever evolving. In entering my clinical years, I constantly encounter new experiences within medicine and, through them, a new understanding of myself and the profession I have chosen to pursue. Developing an ethos of medicine, then, is not a concrete task; it is a moving target.
Competing interests: None declared
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Competing Interests: None declared.
Published on: (14 January 2016)
Page navigation anchor for Author Response to Dr. Egnew
Author Response to Dr. Egnew
William Ventres, Family Physician
In his commentary, Dr. Egnew states: "In an evidence-based world, the tasks a physician must accomplish can be mistaken for the physician's job, taking care of sick persons." I think that is one reason I wrote this piece, to remind myself of my "job" in a task-filled work environment. It is not always easy. I wonder if others have ideas on how they manage this job-task split on a day-to-day basis. I invite your comments. Than...
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In his commentary, Dr. Egnew states: "In an evidence-based world, the tasks a physician must accomplish can be mistaken for the physician's job, taking care of sick persons." I think that is one reason I wrote this piece, to remind myself of my "job" in a task-filled work environment. It is not always easy. I wonder if others have ideas on how they manage this job-task split on a day-to-day basis. I invite your comments. Thanks, Tom, for your thoughts.
Competing interests: None declared
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Competing Interests: None declared.
Published on: (14 January 2016)
Page navigation anchor for A Refreshing Reminder
A Refreshing Reminder
Thomas Egnew, Behavioral Scientist
In his essay on healing, Bill Ventres touches on a very important but rarely addressed aspect of physicianhood, the spirit the physician brings to the provision of care. The ethos of healing he espouses, helping patients "face sickness with less fear and more grace while balancing reality with hope", traces its roots to the elemental role of physicians as comforters and accompaniers of patients on their illness journeys....
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In his essay on healing, Bill Ventres touches on a very important but rarely addressed aspect of physicianhood, the spirit the physician brings to the provision of care. The ethos of healing he espouses, helping patients "face sickness with less fear and more grace while balancing reality with hope", traces its roots to the elemental role of physicians as comforters and accompaniers of patients on their illness journeys. The principles of dignity, authenticity, integrity, transparency, solidarity, generosity and resiliency are well supported in the literature from a variety of healing arts, from medicine to psychotherapy. Dignity affords patients respect; authenticity is an essential aspect of a therapeutic relationship; integrity renders a doctor trustworthy; transparency promotes shared decision-making; solidarity fosters therapeutic alliance; generosity reflects gratitude for a fulfilling profession; and resiliency entails appropriate humility. All these qualities are important if a physician is to help patients undergoing profound transformations to heal. In an evidence-based world, the tasks a physician must accomplish can be mistaken for the physician's job, taking care of sick persons. By sharing his personal ethos of healing, Ventres reminds us of the job of medicine and the meaning of the physician's work.
Competing interests: None declared
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Competing Interests: None declared.