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Lesson 1 (from Part I - Education of a Knife)

Objective

In the Introduction, Gawande states that medicine is a strange and disturbing business. The objective of this lesson is to discuss the reasons Gawande gives for feeling this way.

Lesson

1) Class discussion: How high are the stakes when practicing medicine? How great are the liberties that are taken? Do doctors, for the most part, act out of an abiding confidence in their know-how as a profession? Why or why not? What is disturbing about practicing medicine? What strange things are done in the name of medicine? In the Lee Tran case, what was discovered with an X-ray? Did they have specialists and high-tech equipment? Did that help them know what to do? What did Gawande believe should be done? What did the surgical fellow want to do? What was finally decided to do? What did Gawande learn later could have been done? Why is it strange...

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