Reading for meaning

When we think of the typical doctor, we conjure up an image of the consummate scientist, nose in a textbook, absorbing facts and figures by the pageful. We hardly imagine them curling up with a collection of Auden or Duffy of an evening, but perhaps this wouldn’t be a bad idea. The skills learned from sitting down to analyse a piece of poetry are more relevant to the practice of medicine than they may initially appear, and a quick comparison between the guidelines from the Writing Centre at the University of Wisconsin–Madison (UWM)1 and the ‘traditional medical model’2 seems a simple way to demonstrate this crossover. The traditional model for history taking is taught at most medical schools. It is primarily disease- and diagnosis-centred, with little time built in to help consider how the patient feels about the disease process. However, the poetry-based model will hopefully address some of the shortcomings we find with the traditional medical model, while still allowing for scientific analysis of the patient’s condition. It will also create an opportunity for …