Biomaterial Database

The nature of illness experience: a course on boundaries. 2002

Richard Martinez

University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, Department of Psychiatry, Center for Biothics and Humanities, Denver 80262, USA. richard.martinez@uchsc.edu

With the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education's designation of "professionalism" as one of six core competencies in residency medical education, some educators of residents and medical students believe that the concept of professional role is too restrictive and narrow for grappling with the complex dynamics of professional-patient relationships. The ethical quandaries of abortion and physician assisted suicide illustrate how individual personal values cannot be ignored in the dynamic relationship between health care professional and patient. This article describes a medical school course where students are paired with "patient mentors." Within the dynamic and intimate relationship that unfolds over several months, students explore the "experience of boundaries," and are invited to use this experience to consider their evolving professional identity.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D007858	Learning	Relatively permanent change in behavior that is the result of past experience or practice. The concept includes the acquisition of knowledge.	Phenomenography
D010817	Physician-Patient Relations	The interactions between physician and patient.	Doctor-Patient Relations,Doctor Patient Relations,Physician Patient Relations,Physician Patient Relationship,Doctor Patient Relation,Doctor-Patient Relation,Physician Patient Relation,Physician Patient Relationships,Physician-Patient Relation,Relation, Doctor Patient,Relation, Doctor-Patient,Relation, Physician Patient,Relation, Physician-Patient,Relations, Doctor Patient,Relations, Doctor-Patient,Relations, Physician Patient,Relations, Physician-Patient,Relationship, Physician Patient,Relationships, Physician Patient
D011361	Professional Competence	The capability to perform the duties of one's profession generally, or to perform a particular professional task, with skill of an acceptable quality.	Competence, Professional,Generalization of Expertise,Technical Expertise,Expertise Generalization,Expertise, Technical
D004501	Education, Medical	Use for general articles concerning medical education.	Medical Education
D004992	Ethics, Medical	The principles of professional conduct concerning the rights and duties of the physician, relations with patients and fellow practitioners, as well as actions of the physician in patient care and interpersonal relations with patient families.	Medical Ethics
D006801	Humans	Members of the species Homo sapiens.	Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D006808	Humanism	An ethical system which emphasizes human values and the personal worth of each individual, as well as concern for the dignity and freedom of humankind.