Improving Education 295
bodied here extraordinary nobility and idealism in an era when these
virtues are increasingly rare.
Some of these doctors wanted more spiritual connection, but felt they
could not attain it. The positivistic scientific medical model led some to
shun ambiguities, mysteries, and inchoate subjective experiences. Steven
said, ‘‘I wish I were more spiritual,’’ but he remained skeptical. In-
creasingly, evidence-based medicine spreads, valuing only the objective,
the objectifiable, and the measurable. Medical training itself wounds
in ways that can callous and distance doctors from patients, rather than
heightening sensitivity and warmth. The threat of disease and death can
also overwhelm doctors, who then minimize, avoid, or deny their injury,
rather than acknowledge, embrace, and grow from, it.
Yet concurrently, the benefits of these physicians’ own experiences
with illness are not unalloyed. I do not mean to be a Pollyanna, touting
the benefits of disease on medical practice. Clearly, personal illness can
affect one in both good and bad ways. Empathy often, but not always,
increases. At times, these doctors lost patience with those whose medical
problems seemed comparatively minor, but who nevertheless com-
plained, and failed to adhere to effective treatments. Most doctors did
not go so far as to rebuke patients as did Nancy (e.g., saying, ‘‘You have
the ability to make yourself better, and I don’t’’). But many of these
physicians shared her irritation. They realized, too, the limitations of
their field—for example, that medical knowledge does not wholly alle-
viate pain. From side effects such as nausea and weight gain, to pain and
discomfort from lumbar punctures, biopsies, and feeding tubes, physi-
cians often underestimated how much they harmed their patients. Doc-
tors may tell patients, ‘‘Don’t worry, this procedure won’t hurt,’’ or ‘‘will
hurt only a little,’’ or ‘‘just in the beginning,’’ or ‘‘the scar will be noth-
ing,’’ ‘‘this is routine.’’ Yet at times, such statements are simply untrue.
These physicians are then giving false information.
Hopefully, these narratives will encourage physicians to optimize as
much as possible the time they do have with their patients. Even if they
have only ten minutes with a patient, doctors could often be more
sensitive. Physicians should at least be made more aware of the limitations
they confront—from patients’ perspectives. Healers need to realize the im-
pact of their constrained time and resources—how patients at the other
end of the stethoscope see their treatments and providers.