“Handling a disease requires Knowledge… Handling a patient requires Wisdom.”
The World Health Organization (WHO) defines health as “A state of complete physical, mental and social well-being, and does not consist only of the absence of disease or infirmity.” According to this definition, for a doctor to be referred to as a “Healthcare Provider,” he should provide care for the overall health of the patient, rather than addressing only the disease. It is more about managing the patient as a “whole.”1
As stated in JAMA (2001)2, “Humanism in medicine [is] the physician’s attitudes and actions that demonstrate interest in and respect for the patient and that address the patient’s concerns and values. These generally are related to patients’ psychological, social, and spiritual domains”.
So, to manage a patient, the healthcare provider would need to go beyond the domain knowledge of medical science to the holistic approach of patient care. The goal of patient care has to be Wellness with Wholeness. This would be to understand the relation between the body, mind and soul of the human being.
Patient vs. Physician
The patient speaks about the illness, having ideas, expectations and feelings. But the physician...
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