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(2018) Clinical approaches to hospital medicine, Dordrecht, Springer.
Hospitalist physicians see patients at a unique moment of existential crisis in their lives as they encounter the collision of a serious illness, a complex medical system, and a vast quantity of scientific information. Knowledge of the origins of the medical tools that clinicians apply in helping patients allows for a more mindful approach to patients in these moments. This chapter reviews the main modalities of medical knowledge: practical wisdom, expert consensus, evidence-based medicine, and narrative medicine. The philosophy of science that undergirds these tools is explained. Finally, the use of narrative medicine sheds light on the existential moment of hospitalization, and highlights the ethical issues surrounding providing care on both individual and whole health system levels.
Publication details
DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-64774-6_20
Full citation:
Benson, K. (2018)., Tools for applying medical knowledge, in K. Conrad (ed.), Clinical approaches to hospital medicine, Dordrecht, Springer, pp. 285-304.