Schryer - Medicine as an Artful Science
Medicine as an Artful Science: The Role of Case Presentations in Mediating the Tension
between “Art” and “Science” in Medical Settings
Catherine Schryer, Professor
Department of English Language and Literature
University of Waterloo
March 4, 2004
11:30 AM - 12:45 PM
MC 5158, University of Waterloo
Abstract
The current debate surrounding evidence-based medicine and medical protocols resonates with the traditional debate as to whether medicine is fundamentally an “art” or a “science.” During a study of the role of case presentations in the socialization of healthcare students, the researchers noted the emergence of this classical tension in the socialization of medical students. This paper traces the terms of the debate by exploring the controversy around the original word “techne” that was used to describe the “art” medicine. This research suggests that “techne” has been badly translated as “art” and should more reasonably be translated as “artful science.” This definition more fully explains the necessary tensions between factual know-ledge, clinical expertise, and situational ethics that we found in our data. Our data also indicate that “tools” (as defined by Engestrom and Latour) such as case presentations or medical records are needed to mediate this tension – in other words to facilitate the interaction between these different kinds of knowledge.
Biosketch
Catherine Schryer has a PhD in Rhetoric and Composition Studies, with interests in advanced literacies in the professions as well as education and healthcare communication. She specializes in professional writing, composition and rhetoric, and genre theory. She is especially interested in qualitative research techniques as well as genre research and the development of on-line courses. Dr. Schryer has published in such journals as Written Communication, Textual Studies in Canada, Technostyle, Journal of Advanced Composition, Journal of Business and Technical Communication, and Social Science and Medicine. She also has an interest in writing across the curriculum and together with Laurence Steven has published Contextual Literacy: Writing Across the Curriculum and Towards Writing Across the Curriculum. She is presently engaged in several collaborative, SSHRC funded projects constructing case studies that investigate discourse in medical settings and online learning in professional contexts. She recently received the National Council of Teachers of English award (2001) for Best Article Reporting Qualitative or Quantitative Research in Technical or Scientific Communication.
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