Death Foretold

出版者:University of Chicago Press

作者:Nicolas Christakis

页数:340

出版时间:2000-3-3

价格:GBP 24.00

装帧:Hardcover

isbn号码:9780226104706

图书标签:社会学医学社会学

This text explains the act of prognosis in its varying forms - doctors telling patients if their cancer is curable, when their pain will stop, if they will live to see their child graduate from college - from the perspective of doctors. Nicholas Christakis examines why physicians are reluctant to predict the future, what uses doctors make of prognosis, the symbolism it contains, and the practical and emotional difficulties it involves. Drawing on his experiences both as a doctor and as a sociologist, the author conducted interviews with physicians; he searched medical textbooks and medical school curricula for discussions of prognosis; and he developed quantitative data showing that physicians are systematically optimistic in their predictions. With its combination of approaches and methods, this book is a study of a murky area of medical practice that, despite its importance, is only partially understood and rarely discussed. Christakis argues that physicians and the medical profession as a whole have the duty to prognosticate, and shirking the difficult questions - as most doctors tend to do - advances neither medical knowledge nor the care seriously ill patients receive. The book aims to be a clarion call for a renewed effort to understand and improve the art and science of prognostication.

用户评价

写的好：“Prognosis resembles prophecy in its functional, structural, and symbolic uses, through which prognostication transcends being merely a technical part of medical care and becomes a creative and meaningful act for patients and physicians alike. ” (p.179) 但是抒情没读出来，不够熟悉主题的缘故？

写的好：“Prognosis resembles prophecy in its functional, structural, and symbolic uses, through which prognostication transcends being merely a technical part of medical care and becomes a creative and meaningful act for patients and physicians alike. ” (p.179) 但是抒情没读出来，不够熟悉主题的缘故？

写的好：“Prognosis resembles prophecy in its functional, structural, and symbolic uses, through which prognostication transcends being merely a technical part of medical care and becomes a creative and meaningful act for patients and physicians alike. ” (p.179) 但是抒情没读出来，不够熟悉主题的缘故？

写的好：“Prognosis resembles prophecy in its functional, structural, and symbolic uses, through which prognostication transcends being merely a technical part of medical care and becomes a creative and meaningful act for patients and physicians alike. ” (p.179) 但是抒情没读出来，不够熟悉主题的缘故？

写的好：“Prognosis resembles prophecy in its functional, structural, and symbolic uses, through which prognostication transcends being merely a technical part of medical care and becomes a creative and meaningful act for patients and physicians alike. ” (p.179) 但是抒情没读出来，不够熟悉主题的缘故？