What does it mean to be healthy? When looking through a strictly biological lens, one can make the argument that simply being without illness could be considered healthy. When you go to your medical provider with pneumonia and an antibiotic is prescribed, your disease state is “fixed” when the bacteria causing your fever, cough, and body aches has been eradicated. Last week you felt miserable, though this week you are back to your normal state of health. But are you healthy? I would argue that there is a difference between “fixing” your body and “healing” the body. What do I mean by this?
The World Health Organization states that “Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.” (WHO Constitution 1948). This is implying that complete wellness needs to take in consideration not just what is happening on a molecular level in our bodies, but also our emotional states and the impact that society and external situations have on our mind and body. This has also been described as the “Bio-Psycho-Social” model of health, and the medical field is starting to realize that integration of all these aspects of what makes us human, is what ultimately fuels our overall health and well-being.
In medical school and residency, much of my training used a one-dimensional pathway to “fix” what was wrong biologically with someone. There’s usually “a pill for that”, or a surgery that can set the body right or remove what was plaguing it. There are medications to alleviate pain, and physiotherapies to return the body to its fully functioning state. I liken this to the “Science” of medicine, and we got very good at this during our studies and early training. One can equate this to the “fixing” part of what we do.
So what about the “Art” of medicine? Perhaps this is when we start to look at the human experience through a multi-dimensional lens – one that also includes emotion and social determinants of health. There is not one right answer or right path, because human beings have many different layers of needs, beliefs, and fears. We are not a single note, but rather a chord. Realizing this involves creativity and openness on the part of the medical provider. It also involves putting aside our own egos of “what we know best” sometimes and really meeting the patient where they are in their personal journey of “healing”.
Looking back at my 20+ years of practicing medicine (and it truly is a “practice”), I see how I have grown and honed in on the multi-dimensional “human” side of this profession. Leaning into the “Art” of medicine has allowed me to fully support my patients, as well as myself, leading us ultimately to a place where we can all be truly healthy.