The story of medicine is commonly framed as a steady accumulation of life-prolonging discoveries, inventions and practices. But seen through another lens, it is a story of competition for the title of “expert” in matters of healing – a tug-of-war over whose knowledge is valuable, who should make decisions, who achieves better results, who deserves resources. Was it the āšipu (“sorcerer”) or asu (“physician”) in ancient Mesopotamia? The mother, the midwife or the physician during modern childbirth?
Neurologist Oliver Sacks was often credited with creating the template for the modern medical memoir in the 1970s. More recently it has been enriched by the likes of Atul Gawande, Gavin Francis, and Gabriel Weston, gifted physicians and writers who use patient case studies as a springboard to explore illness, the science behind it, and the existential dilemmas it gives rise to. The science in these books is not incidental; it thrusts pathology into the pages as a central character, variously demanding the physician’s and patient’s understanding, negotiation, appeasement and reconciliation.
