Journey of Understanding
The More We Learn, The More We Understand?
A Glimpse of Disease and Its Narratives
By Ann Christelle Labossiere
Last Updated: 6/29/17
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| (Photo Credit: Ann Christelle Labossiere. Taken: 08/10/16. 10:11AM. Rhode Island) |
Suppose you are at sea. You're on a boat. The sun is angled like the above image. And yes, you can choose to imagine if you would rather be on a ship. Whether you're using canoe paddles or an engine propeller, imagine that you're trying to reach the Ole Familiar Horizon. Having watched this with your very eyes or hearing stories about the horizon, one has come to the realization that this journey appears hopeless. In essence, it's as if the Horizon Line is a Never Ending Myth. Where is the love if this oh so beautiful gift from the sea keeps deceiving the eye? The truth is that you've already reached the Horizon. However, because we keep looking forward, it's as if we've never truly reached the horizon.
The More We Learn, The More We Understand is the title I've created for this blog. Is there truth in this statement? Perhaps one can imagine a Hypothetical graph where the X-axis is the "Amount of Learning Experiences" and the Y-Axis represents the "Act of Understanding." (This is a hypothetical graph, so the Y-Axis can't be measured in the way we would deal with real-life experiments.)
I'm quite fond of the horizon imagery because we can be flexible in how we choose to interpret it. I make this horizon metaphor to connect with our accepted ideas on what something is and what something is not. Maybe you believe that we can never reach the horizon: it's an illusion. Maybe you agree that we have reached the horizon because the horizon is merely a linear point from a distance where you will eventually reach.
In the medical world, there are many narratives. Someone whom I know that majored in History told me once that history is a narrative about the conquered and who had the power to voice the story. It appears that in the medical world, one can also apply this concept as well. How so, you might ask? We've come to any conclusions regarding the qualities of disease and what makes efficient medicine?
In the medical world, there are many narratives. Someone whom I know that majored in History told me once that history is a narrative about the conquered and who had the power to voice the story. It appears that in the medical world, one can also apply this concept as well. How so, you might ask? We've come to any conclusions regarding the qualities of disease and what makes efficient medicine?
However, we often overlook that we gave labels to behaviors that we have somewhat universally accepted to be a disease. In reading more about diseases and its origin as a social construct in my Making Modern Medicine In America Harvard Summer School course, we are learning how to approach the "hard-to-reach horizon." We are also learning how to bring our narratives to the plate and how the construction of diseases is affecting us in ways unimaginable. Take a look at Charles E. Rosenberg and Janet Golden's work with the framework of diseases. It is with my opinion that how you see diseases will change and be taken into a new perspective when you read from their well-thought-out volumes. In this world, resources range from someone's experiences to a book at your local library.
If we were the ones to label different behaviors, whether somatic or non-somatic, we are essentially socially constructing our understanding of diseases (Rosenberg and Golden xiv). When people think of social constructs, they think of beauty. "You should look like this or that!" Likewise, the same can be applied to diseases and how we create stigmas or vibes around environments. Our "framework" for diseases is influenced by medical thoughts and non-medical experts. Before we had the doctors and nurses in the white uniforms as we consider in today's age, medical caregivers were not always in this fashion. For instance, there are many Midwife services in today's age. After a quick search, I've come to find that by Googling "midwife services," you can search for midwife services nearby and see reviews that patients have posted regarded the service that they have been provided.
However, this model example of actual public Midwife Services does not dictate the value of traditional midwives who do not necessarily have a license or degree in nursing. In fact, the way we have responded to illnesses or service-attentive needs (like pregnancies) have helped structured the terms of public or institutional policies (Rosenberg and Golden xxi-xxii). While we place medical expertise to an agreeable, high degree, we must also remember the roots of where their practices came from. Keeping my great-grandmother from my mother's side in mind, she was what we would call a Midwife. In Haiti, she would help pregnant women in her neighborhood give birth in Aux Cayes, which is one of the rural areas of Haiti. In that same sense, my grandparents learned how to take care of their plants and animals, for they lived in the countryside of Haiti in Aux Cayes as well.
If we were the ones to label different behaviors, whether somatic or non-somatic, we are essentially socially constructing our understanding of diseases (Rosenberg and Golden xiv). When people think of social constructs, they think of beauty. "You should look like this or that!" Likewise, the same can be applied to diseases and how we create stigmas or vibes around environments. Our "framework" for diseases is influenced by medical thoughts and non-medical experts. Before we had the doctors and nurses in the white uniforms as we consider in today's age, medical caregivers were not always in this fashion. For instance, there are many Midwife services in today's age. After a quick search, I've come to find that by Googling "midwife services," you can search for midwife services nearby and see reviews that patients have posted regarded the service that they have been provided.
However, this model example of actual public Midwife Services does not dictate the value of traditional midwives who do not necessarily have a license or degree in nursing. In fact, the way we have responded to illnesses or service-attentive needs (like pregnancies) have helped structured the terms of public or institutional policies (Rosenberg and Golden xxi-xxii). While we place medical expertise to an agreeable, high degree, we must also remember the roots of where their practices came from. Keeping my great-grandmother from my mother's side in mind, she was what we would call a Midwife. In Haiti, she would help pregnant women in her neighborhood give birth in Aux Cayes, which is one of the rural areas of Haiti. In that same sense, my grandparents learned how to take care of their plants and animals, for they lived in the countryside of Haiti in Aux Cayes as well.
The aim is not to depreciate the value of all the hard work that the medical field has helped us in understanding today. Rather it is a much more eye-opening experience when the ideas and feelings of laypersons-like patients for example- are not just listened to but also heard. So I give great applause to those who have expanded our understanding in the sciences and remind readers of the value of laypersons.
In an article from BBC News titled What's up, Doc? How comic Strips are improving bedside manner, it had an interesting comic strip about a grad student who is entering the medical field. Anxious and unaware of how to talk to his patient, he didn't realize that he was not being mindful to his patient diagnosed with cancer. The comic shows this theme of doctors remembering that their patients are more than the disease that their patient has is on the verge of possibly being diagnosed with. What would be more effective would be to treat the patient as a human, not with statements that lack reassurance or care in general.
In this same idea, this is to encourage intellectual curiosity. Already, I have learned that our understanding of diseases and diagnoses are like the analogy with blind men and the elephant. My professor told us that in essence the story with the blind men and the elephant deals with the power of perspective. Each blind man went and tried to use the touching senses to get an idea of what this creature was like. As you can imagine, the blind man that touched the tusks of the elephant versus the tail or the ear is all going to have different perspectives on what the elephant actually is like. As my professor told us, while we might see a sight as an advantage, even us as students only saw one side of the elephant. My classmates brought great points to the table. See the theme here? We only know so much, and there is no absolute truth, for humans are shaped by their experiences and cultures.
Go out and research. Be curious. Whether or not we've reached the horizon, there is always so much to learn. Explore and Journ2Understand more! Stay tuned for more blogs where I have a conversation about more topics, like diagnoses and hospitals.
Spread the Hashtag #Journ2Understand
Thank you for Reading!
In an article from BBC News titled What's up, Doc? How comic Strips are improving bedside manner, it had an interesting comic strip about a grad student who is entering the medical field. Anxious and unaware of how to talk to his patient, he didn't realize that he was not being mindful to his patient diagnosed with cancer. The comic shows this theme of doctors remembering that their patients are more than the disease that their patient has is on the verge of possibly being diagnosed with. What would be more effective would be to treat the patient as a human, not with statements that lack reassurance or care in general.
In this same idea, this is to encourage intellectual curiosity. Already, I have learned that our understanding of diseases and diagnoses are like the analogy with blind men and the elephant. My professor told us that in essence the story with the blind men and the elephant deals with the power of perspective. Each blind man went and tried to use the touching senses to get an idea of what this creature was like. As you can imagine, the blind man that touched the tusks of the elephant versus the tail or the ear is all going to have different perspectives on what the elephant actually is like. As my professor told us, while we might see a sight as an advantage, even us as students only saw one side of the elephant. My classmates brought great points to the table. See the theme here? We only know so much, and there is no absolute truth, for humans are shaped by their experiences and cultures.
Go out and research. Be curious. Whether or not we've reached the horizon, there is always so much to learn. Explore and Journ2Understand more! Stay tuned for more blogs where I have a conversation about more topics, like diagnoses and hospitals.
Spread the Hashtag #Journ2Understand
Thank you for Reading!
Work Cited
What's up, Doc? How comic strips are improving bedside manner. BBC News. 12/1/13. Web. Last Accessed: 6/29/17.
What's up, Doc? How comic strips are improving bedside manner. BBC News. 12/1/13. Web. Last Accessed: 6/29/17.
Rosenberg, Charles E., Janet L. Golden. Framing Disease: Studies in Cultural History. New Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers University Press, 1992. Print.
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