Caring and Curing, Cuddles and Scalpels. A Survey on Clinical Practitioners and Surgeons
Authors
Lorenzo Speranza
Department of Law, University of Brescia
Angela Palmieri
Department of Law, University of Brescia
Keywords:
Care, Cure, Differentiation clinicians-surgeons, Identity
Abstract
Caring and curing are two different yet connected words: care refers to the care of others; cure instead refers to diagnosis and therapy. Care has always been linked to clinical practitioners, where cure has been more associated to surgeons. In this work, the historical evolution of the treatments will be emphasised and will be linked to a research done on practitioners and surgeons of a province in the South of Italy. Results show that the working practices of the surgeons are less caring than those of the clinical practitioners; whilst for practitioners the main emphasis is on the patients, for the surgeons the emphasis is on the operating room and its dynamics based on action, speed, drama, strength and resistance.
