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Editorials |1 September 1994

“The Internist's Reading”: Literature That Illuminates Life

Edward J. Huth, MD

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At the center of the practice of medicine is the physician constantly engaged in the unending drama played out by patients, their families, and physicians themselves. The power of the witnessed and felt joy and pain and sadness comes in large part from the physician's being both spectator and player. But there is a limit to what the physician can perceive, having only one pair of eyes, and limits to what only one brain can digest. A wider and deeper view can come through finding what other pairs of eyes have seen. That is the value of reading literature that reflects life rather than that simply describing our bodies and the various afflictions that damage them. This is the reason for our launching a new feature in this issue.
We have asked some keen observers of what physicians can draw from classic and contemporary literature outside of medicine to write short essays on works that can amplify a physician's view of life beyond what he or she can see through a single pair of eyes. These essays will regularly appear in the “Literature of Medicine” section, probably at monthly intervals. We hope to be able to assemble the recommended books for display with those of “A Library for Internists” at successive Annual Sessions of the College. The first of these essays, that by Rita Charon, appears in this issue.
-The Editor
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Huth EJ. “The Internist's Reading”: Literature That Illuminates Life. Ann Intern Med. 1994;121:381. doi: 10.7326/0003-4819-121-5-199409010-00014

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Published: Ann Intern Med. 1994;121(5):381.

DOI: 10.7326/0003-4819-121-5-199409010-00014

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