Doctors' Stories: The Narrative Structure of Medical Knowledge

by Kathryn Montgomery Hunter

A patient's job is to tell the physician what hurts, and the physician's job is to fix it. But how does the physician know what is wrong? What becomes of the patient's story when the patient becomes a case? Addressing readers on both sides of the patient-physician encounter, Kathryn Hunter looks at medicine as an art that relies heavily on telling and interpreting a story--the patient's story of illness and its symptoms.

Genres: Medicine

232 pages, Hardcover

First published May 6, 1991

Reviews

[An Te · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dr Hunter considers medicine as a form of inquiry that is interpretive. The narrative told is intrinsic to the meaning conveyed which is bounded by the community's narrative form. The analytic facts (pure facts) are woven with the narrative, storytelling structure. Positivism in medicine can simply present medicine as a discipline dealing simply with facts. However, the facts must still be written and the manner/form in which this is done has profound implications on how others grapple and interpret this information.
With these things in mind, Kathryn sagaciously opines that the physician's task is to experience first and reconstruct the medicalised version that is matched to a taxonomy that understands and affirms the life narrative 'an interpretation that is life-conducive.'
All this is sensible from Kathryn's perspective but I would have liked to know how we can practically integrate these approaches into daily clinical practise and reflections.
Are there perhaps some study guides which open our eyes to the prominent narrative structures we all engage in? And which narratives are best to speak about not only when we are trying to promote life but also when we are trying to end life in a dignified manner? These questions were not really addressed at all in this book. I did feel that this was an intellectual excursis on a topic much less appreciated which could have derived more practical considerations... I do wonder if others have taken this further. It has after all been nearly 30 years ago when this was written and the landscape has changed somewhat since then with patient-centred care initiatives, patient involvement and reflective practise all now built into medical practise.

Much food for thought for those then and for us today.

[Susannah Carter · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this. One of the only academic/research books that I've loved. It's niche, but it's my niche. Hunter argues that narrative is inseparable to medical practice and provides examples of the ways different forms of narrative are woven into doctors' and patients' daily lives. Really great; I'd recommend to anyone with an interest in the medical humanities or medical practice.