If you were sick, which would you prefer: an intelligent doctor or an empathetic doctor who communicates well? Personally, I prefer one or one that is both. And I wish all medical school students were like this. When they enter the faculty, we ask them why they want to study Medicine: most answer that it is to serve and help others. The medical profession deals every day with people, healthy and sick, with their families, with our colleagues and with other health professionals. Medical humanism revolves around the relationship between doctor and patient. This includes honesty, empathy, compassion, altruism, solidarity and adequate care for patients and their families, with respect for their dignity and beliefs. It is the basis of medicine since the time of Hippocrates.
At the end of their six-year career, the new professionals solemnly promise: “I will always remember that there is part art and part science in medicine, and that sympathy, warmth and understanding can always be more powerful than the best scalpel or the best medicineâ€.
The UPF initiative is very welcome: the humanities enrich the spirit. Dr. Letamendi (who was a professor at the UB) said: “The doctor who only knows medicine, doesn’t even know medicine.” The trade is learned from the practical example of other professionals, beyond the formal curriculum. When they arrived at the faculty, we explained to them that they must be good people and good students to become good doctors. And that when they are good doctors they must persevere to be excellent, committed and ethical professionals. Our obligation is to educate them in this direction and work so that the health system allows us to care for all patients in adequate conditions, with enough time to listen to them and understand their problems. It is essential to establish a relationship of mutual trust and respect. Medicine is a humanistic profession with values, at the service of society. Today our society needs more humanism and humanities.
