Way of Medicine: Ethics and the Healing Profession

The Way of Medicine is a book that explains why medicine is spiritually deflated and morally adrift and offers an ethical framework to renew and guide practitioners in fulfilling their profession to heal. It challenges the reigning provider of services model and calls for practitioners to recover the Way of Medicine, which offers physicians a path out of the model and the moral resources necessary to resist political, institutional, and cultural forces. The book explores the nature of medicine as a practice, health as the end of medicine, the doctor-patient relationship, the rule of double effect, and clinical ethical issues from the beginning of life to its end. It is written for medical students, health care professionals, and students and scholars of bioethics and medical ethics.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 232 pages
Publication date: 15 August 2021
Publisher: University of Notre Dame Press

Medicine has lost its spiritual essence and moral compass, and this book seeks to explain why and provide an ethical framework for practitioners to revitalize their profession and fulfill their healing mission.

Medicine, in its essence, is about understanding the nature of illness and seeking to alleviate suffering. It involves the art of diagnosis, treatment, and prevention, as well as the promotion of health and well-being. However, today's medicine has strayed from its ethical roots, becoming spiritually deflated and morally adrift.

The prevailing provider of services model, in which clinicians offer an array of "health care services" without any claim to know what is good for a patient, is a significant contributor to this decline. This model prioritizes economic exchange over the holistic care of the patient, leading to a focus on treatment rather than prevention, and a disregard for the patient's subjective well-being.

Farr Curlin and Christopher Tollefsen, in their book "The Way of Medicine," argue for a return to the ancient ethical tradition that underpins contemporary medicine and bioethics. They propose that practitioners should reclaim the Way of Medicine, which offers a path out of the provider of services model and provides the moral resources necessary to resist the various political, institutional, and cultural forces that push practitioners and patients into thinking of their relationship in terms of economic exchange.

Curlin and Tollefsen offer an accessible account of the ancient ethical tradition, drawing on the scholarship of renowned thinkers such as Leon Kass, Alasdair MacIntyre, and John Finnis. Through their investigation, they explore the nature of medicine as a practice, health as the end of medicine, the doctor-patient relationship, the rule of double effect in medical practice, and a range of clinical ethical issues from birth to death.

In the final chapter, the authors delve into debates about conscience in medicine, arguing that rather than pretending to not know what is good for patients, practitioners should embrace their role as stewards of health and work towards promoting the well-being of their patients. They emphasize the importance of empathy, compassion, and integrity in medical practice, and call for practitioners to be guided by a moral framework that prioritizes the patient's interests and values.

The Way of Medicine provides a valuable framework for practitioners to renew their commitment to medicine and restore its spiritual and moral essence. It challenges the prevailing provider of services model and encourages practitioners to reclaim their role as healers, working towards the patient's interests and values. By embracing the Way of Medicine, practitioners can strive to provide holistic care that promotes health, well-being, and the highest possible quality of life for their patients.

Weight: 384g
Dimension: 152 x 229 x 19 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780268200862