Doctors need to be human first

Doctors need to remember that they need to be human first

DAVID L. KATZ, MD | EDUCATION | NOVEMBER 14, 2013

In medicine, we pledge: primum non nocere. First, do no harm. But before we can do no harm as doctors, we need to be doctors. And before we can be doctors, we need to be human beings. Being a doctor is a great privilege, but it is a subordinate privilege. Being human comes first.

I distinctly recall the time in my medical education when I realized I was becoming more medical and less human. The process of learning how to conduct a complete history and physical had so taken over my brain that I could no longer remember how to have a conversation with a patient. The structured interview offered benefits, of course, but the loss of spontaneous human interaction seemed a high price to pay./.../