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Medicine, The Art
We don’t hear much about the art of medicine these days, but doctors know what it means. In fact, their opinions of peers assess this indirectly in our rankings of hospitals. Patients figure it out, too, for the art of medicine transcends all else when an anxious individual confronting death or disability looks to the physician and asks, “What’s right for me?” The response distinguishes medicine as a timeless noble craft from a medicine that’s measly or even ignoble. Before you dismiss this notion of “art” as squishy or outmoded, understand what it means. As old as the ancient temples and as contemporary as the decoded genome, it can be summed up in four principles: Mastery. Individuality. Humanity. Morality.
