http://www.mpdailyfix.com/the-latest-medical-discovery-treat-the-who-not-the-what/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=the-latest-medical-discovery-treat-the-who-not-the-what Opinions. Commentary. News. Sun, 12 Feb 2012 02:23:11 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.1 hourly 1 http://www.mpdailyfix.com/the-latest-medical-discovery-treat-the-who-not-the-what/comment-page-1/#comment-25860 Claire Ratushny Thu, 08 Feb 2007 14:55:50 +0000 http://www.mpdailyfix.com/the-latest-medical-discovery-treat-the-who-not-the-what/#comment-25860 Jeanne, Taking a holistic approach in medicine is nothing new. Alternative practioners make this the hallmark of their practice: homeopathy, naturopathy, Ayurveda, Chinese medicine have all worked this way for hundreds and even thousands of years. These modalities treat the person. The whole person. I expostulate that with an educated population trying alternative modalities more and more, and spending billions doing it, the mainstream medical community is wising up to the fact that its approach needs to change from the "what" to the "who". Somehow, in spite of all the time doctors spend diverted by HMOs, paperwork, drug company salespeople and myriad other distractions, they need to get back to the "who" of their practices. That's not easy today. It's not like it was when I was a kid. The family doctor either made house calls or we went to his office where we had his undivided attention and he knew everything there was to know about us. As institutionalized medicine became a bigger and bigger business, much was lost in that level of holistic patient care. I'm not certain how much of that we're going to regain--even with the med schools adding this to their curricula. Let's hope for the best. Jeanne,
Taking a holistic approach in medicine is nothing new. Alternative practioners make this the hallmark of their practice: homeopathy, naturopathy, Ayurveda, Chinese medicine have all worked this way for hundreds and even thousands of years. These modalities treat the person. The whole person.
I expostulate that with an educated population trying alternative modalities more and more, and spending billions doing it, the mainstream medical community is wising up to the fact that its approach needs to change from the “what” to the “who”. Somehow, in spite of all the time doctors spend diverted by HMOs, paperwork, drug company salespeople and myriad other distractions, they need to get back to the “who” of their practices. That’s not easy today. It’s not like it was when I was a kid. The family doctor either made house calls or we went to his office where we had his undivided attention and he knew everything there was to know about us.
As institutionalized medicine became a bigger and bigger business, much was lost in that level of holistic patient care. I’m not certain how much of that we’re going to regain–even with the med schools adding this to their curricula. Let’s hope for the best.

]]> http://www.mpdailyfix.com/the-latest-medical-discovery-treat-the-who-not-the-what/comment-page-1/#comment-25859 Lewis Green Thu, 08 Feb 2007 14:05:08 +0000 http://www.mpdailyfix.com/the-latest-medical-discovery-treat-the-who-not-the-what/#comment-25859 Jeanne, You are too young to recall earlier headlines touting the same thing: treat the who not the what. This is at least the third time in my lifetime that medical schools announced that is their approach. Perhaps this time it will stick. However, it is a tough sell for any profession because it is easier to focus on the what than it is to show concern for the who. Jeanne,
You are too young to recall earlier headlines touting the same thing: treat the who not the what. This is at least the third time in my lifetime that medical schools announced that is their approach. Perhaps this time it will stick.
However, it is a tough sell for any profession because it is easier to focus on the what than it is to show concern for the who.

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