"Profound Courtesy": Literature and Poetry in Medicine

Medicine is firmly rooted in the sciences and derives much of its great power and influence from these roots. In this paper the author, with a career in clinical medicine, argues that there must also be room in medical practice for literature and poetry. He uses examples to build a case for this inclusion helping both patients and doctors in ways which are not in conflict with science but rather allow a much more complete and compassionate picture of the human interactions that are the essence of medicine. The paper argues that a greater understanding of literature and poetry written both by those inside medicine and those observing medicine from the outside can help in crucial ways to guide and sustain doctors, and thus their patients, when wielding the extraordinary power of scientific medicine.