Sinclair Lewis's 1925 novel Arrowsmith follows a pair of bacteriologists, Martin Arrowsmith and his mentor Max Gottlieb, as they travel through various professions in science and medicine in the early decades of the twentieth century. Gottlieb and his protégé, Martin, explore the status and roles of scientific work at universities, in industry, and at a private research foundation, as well as in various medical positions. Lewis presents a picture of tension and conflict between the goals and ideals of pure science and the environments in which his protagonists have to operate. Although Gottlieb and Arrowsmith are able to pursue their research in some places, their work is continually obstructed and undermined by commercialism.
Sinclair Lewis uses the education of Martin Arrowsmith as a means of examining whether medical universities should be dedicated primarily to teaching or to research. This specific argument is exemplified by the fictional University of Winnemac, where there is an atmosphere that is relatively hostile towards the research Gottlieb and Martin wish to pursue. Gottlieb is generally dismissed as “unconscious of the world,” “an old laboratory plug,” “a ‘crapehanger’ who wasted time destroying the theories of others instead of making new ones of his own” (Lewis 10, 35, 9). He is forced to waste his time teaching elementary bacteriology to students who are not interested, while Arrowsmith is forced to waste his time taking classes unrelated to the research he loves. Martin’s lack of interest in his classes seems to say that rather than take a wide variety of science classes medical students who wish to pursue research should be allowed only to take classes needed for research. Lewis’ portrayal of Gottlieb’s l...
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... appears to be the story of a young medical student trying to find his way, but in reality, this story is a critique of the medical field and America in general. It is through Martin’s lack of interest in classes not related to research, and Gottlieb’s dissatisfaction in teaching, that Lewis poses the question should universities focus on research or teaching? Through Gottlieb’s experience at the Hunziker Company Lewis brings to light the argument concerned with how much control pharmaceutical companies and research laboratories should have over researchers. Martin seems to find his scientific paradise in the McGurk Institution, but it becomes clear that this institute preaches commercialism, not in profit but in prestige. The conclusion of the novel suggests the only way to truly escape commercialism is to cut all ties with the commercial world and find escape.
Even in the medical field, male doctors were dominate to the hundreds of well educated midwives. “Male physicians are easily identified in town records and even in Martha’s diary, by the title “Doctor.” No local woman can be discovered that way” (Ulrich, 1990, pg.61). Martha was a part of this demoralized group of laborers. Unfortunately for her, “in twentieth-century terms, the ability to prescribe and dispense medicine made Martha a physician, while practical knowledge of gargles, bandages, poultices and clisters, as well as willingness to give extended care, defined her as a nurse” (Ulrich, 1990, pg.58). In her diary she even portrays doctors, not midwives, as inconsequential in a few medical
Brazelton attended many schools throughout his life. He attended a prep school in Alexandria, Virginia (Episcopal High School), after that he attended New Jersey’s Princeton University, following the pre-medical curriculum. While he was in Princeton he enjoyed acting a in a few number of college theatre productions. Brazelton was then considering of accepting a role on Broadway. However his parents did not like the idea of him accepting the role in Broadway. His parents said if he’d wish for them to pay for medical school in the future he would have to focus on his pre-medical studies. With an offer like that from Brazelton took his parents advice, leaving behind Broadway and concentrate in pre-medical school. Brazelton received his A.B. from Princeton in 1940, then he continued to earn his M.D. from the College of Physicians and surgeons at New York City’s Columbia University. After, that he did his internship through Columbia University, at Roosevelt Hospital. Then he served the United States Naval Reserve for a year. By 1945, Brazelton began a medical residency at Massachusetts General Hospital. His training as a pediatrician began in...
This quote centers Henrietta Lacks’ story around the same questions that have driven the Doctoring course: What does it mean to care for others? And how do we ensure that we care for our patients first as people, rather than as a disease? In many ways, Henrietta Lacks’ story is a textbook case in how not to be a good physician. In examining and learning from her story through the lens of Doctoring, we can inform our own practice and
Kass, Leon. "Neither for Love nor Money: Why Doctors Must Not Kill." Public Interest. No. 94. (Winter 1989)
Twenty four centuries ago, Hippocrates created the profession of medicine, for the first time in human history separating and refining the art of healing from primitive superstitions and religious rituals. His famous Oath forged medicine into what the Greeks called a technik, a craft requiring the entire person of the craftsman, an art that, according to Socrates in his dialogue Gorgias, involved virtue in the soul and spirit as well as the hands and brain. Yet Hippocrates made medicine more than a craft; he infused it with an intrinsic moral quality, creating a “union of medical skill and the integrity of the person [physician]” (Cameron, 2001).
Henry, John. (2001). The scientific revolution and the origins of modern science. Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire: Palgrave Publishing
Doctor William Chester Minor, a protagonist in The Professor and the Madman by Simon Winchester, was an unquestionable psychopath. His insanity has been confirmed by his deranged delusions and actions such as him murdering an innocent man and mutilating himself. Yet he still succeeded at being a highly praised surgeon and an intelligent scholar. These three facets of Minor’s life are strongly motivated by his personality. Minor’s story begins on the island of Ceylon, where he received an exceptional primary education, learned several indigenous languages, and became infatuated with the enticing local girls. For this reason, he was steered away from temptation and sent to America, by his parents. In the United States, Minor studied medicine at the prestigious Yale University and eventually joined the Union Army as a surgeon. Dr. Minor witnessed, while fighting in the Civil War, terrible events; the most traumatic occurrence being when he was forced to brand an Irish deserter. This experience sent Minor on a downward spiral. He began to illegally carry a gun, visit brothels, and show signs of paranoia; therefore, the doctor was discharged from the army and discreetly sent to an asylum. After his release, Minor traveled to London where he shot a man dead due to his paranoid delusions. Minor was sentenced an insane asylum and he spent the majority of the next thirty-eight years reading and secretly volunteering for the Oxford English Dictionary. James Murray, editor of the dictionary, eventually discovered Minor’s identity and they soon became close friends. Although Minor religiously read and acquired new knowledge, his mental condi...
Reich, Warren T. “The Care-Based Ethic of Nazi Medicine and the Moral Importance of What We Care About”. American Journal of Bioethics 1.1 (2001): 64-74. Academic Search Complete. Web. 17 Oct. 2013.
Contrary to Rose’s experience, I have observed the arduousness of white-collar workers. As a research assistant, I have observed the intricacies of white-collar work. I worked under a Professor Pratt, who was a doctorate in chemistry; his work encompassed
In this chapter Dr. Thomas Percival is introduced. Percival first debuted the term “medical ethics.” Percival himself was an advocate of the classical decorum. He believed in the importance of the truth and emphasized sympathy, equality and patience. Chapters six and seven illustrates medical ethics in America. American doctors in this time were either self-taught or apprenticeship-trained. During these chapters the development of proper schools and education were initiated by the American Medical Association. In addition, the first anesthesia was introduced and debates soon began to spark in the world of medicine. The first concerning the unethical practice of inoculation. Then the discussion of abortion and later the use of anesthesia. Yet, in the very last chapter, Jonsen introduces a series of events which radically transformed the field of
In the summer of 1995, the periodical Wilson Quarterly published "Enemies of Promise," an essay by J. Michael Bishop, a Nobel Prize-winning professor of microbiology from the University of California, San Francisco. The essay addressed the renewed criticism the scientific community has received in recent years by an ignorant and unduly critical public. The overall effect this single work has had on the world may be nominal, but the points Professor Bishop raises are significant, and provide ammunition against the ignorants who maintain this "intellectual war," centuries after it was sparked.
...e gap in attitudes between pre-medicalized and modern time periods. The trends of technological advancement and human understanding project a completely medicalized future in which medical authorities cement their place above an intently obedient society.
Diligence is a virtue. This is a theme Atul Gawande presents to the reader throughout Better: A Surgeon’s Notes on Performance. In each story, Gawande provides insight on medical studies he has previously embarked upon. For example, in “The Mop-up” the author tells us about a time when he went to India to observe the efforts to eradicate polio. Gawande explains how he followed a supervisor around and how vaccinations were performed. Additionally, in another chapter he debates on whether physicians should take part in death sentences. Throughout his adventures Gawande provides numerous enriching personal accounts of controversial events and what it is like to be a doctor; each with diligence playing a key part.
In the epitaph Dr. Siegfried Iseman, Edgar Lee Masters employments different types of tones, to depict the central idea of a cherishing physician who wants to be supportive to others, courageous and wise. In the text it states, “Somehow the world and the other doctors / Know what’s in your heart as soon as you make / The high-souled resolution”. This quote demonstrates an ambivalent tone on how Masters changes the coexistence of Dr. Iseman having a positive feeling as demonstrated in the quote “I said I will carry the Christian creed / Into the practice of medicine”. To having a negative feeling on how the doctors are envious of his high reputation and want to cause him to have a lower reputation. This is an act on how Masters uses tone to portray his feelings to his readers.
George, Sam, and Rameck worked all their lives to stay out of the streets, although they encountered many bumps and bruises, they never were willing to give up the one thing they all dreamed about, overcoming obstacles to become the best doctors of their ability. This paper was more challenging because I had to relate it to the book, The Pact. I found that at first I didn't relate it to the book at all. You can see this in my first draft. But as the suggestions came, and I reworked my paper, it turned out to be a nice paper.