The Paris Clinic: A Pitfall Of The Medical System

1344 Words3 Pages

As students of medicine, we become familiar with the proper course of questions that lead us to identify the patient’s problem. We usually take for granted such questions as “What brings you to the clinic today?” or “Where does it hurt you the most and does the pain radiate?” Even though these questions seem trivial to us, we should realize that this paradigm of questions is a result of a major leap in the course of medical history. This leap started with the introduction of Paris clinic which was the first signal of the French revolution. With the emergence of this clinic, Foucault, the French philosopher, established the concept of epistemological rupture and introduced some of the problems associated with the Paris clinic, mainly the medical …show more content…

The social conditions at the time, in addition to the advances in the medical field like the introduction of the stethoscope, allowed for the development of the scientific method. This method is based on formulating a hypothesis, testing it and either refuting or supporting it based on replicable results. It is true that medical gaze was a pitfall of Paris clinic, but I truly believe that if it weren’t for that pitfall, medicine would not have been where it stands today. The medical gaze allowed the physician to look beyond what is superficial, to create a new terminology in medical practice and to objectively assess the pathophysiology of the patient lying in front of him to tackle the mysteries of the live and dead. Moreover, as mentioned earlier, medical gaze had its pros and cons. For example, anesthesia allowed the surgeons to investigate the human body as the patient lies in a quite repose. Even though this helped surgeons operate for a longer period of time, assess and understand the pathology, the patients sometimes could not meet their physicians which contributed to the fracture of the bond between physicians and patients. We also saw that sometimes medical gaze went off limits as in the case of Dr. Simms as he experimented on 3 slaves where he operated more than 30 times on one of them, …show more content…

This training would allow physicians to use medical gaze in balance with a proper relationship with their patients. This is why most medical schools nowadays are working on building well-rounded physicians not only on the social level, but also on the academic level. This can be achieved by fostering the notion of citizenship as a heightened sense of responsibility towards one’s community among physicians. By allowing medical students to practice communication skills, body language and active listening, the students are taught how to explore the human body while maintaining all the pillars of a healthy physician-patient relationship. In addition to that, most medical students get to shadow a patient before following up with a doctor. This enriches the student’s experience by allowing him to observe the medical field from the patient’s side understanding the patient’s feelings, emotions and thoughts throughout the course of treatment. Finally, I believe that one of the most important aspects in the advancement of the medical field is the involvement of non-physicians in establishment of ethical boundaries and humanistic approaches. Having people from various backgrounds like psychology for example, ensures that the patient is receiving a well-rounded evaluation and treatment process. I also believe that the involvement of

Open Document