1st Edition
Thinking About Medicine An Introduction to the Philosophy of Healthcare
Section 1: On Knowing
1. Epistemology I: Introduction and deductive reasoning
2. Epistemology II: Inductive reasoning and empiricism
3. The philosophy of science
4. Anti-realist epistemology
5. The construction of evidence
Section 2: What is there to know About?
6. Ontology
7. Values
8. Ethics
9. Human givens – the conscious self
10. Human givens – the moral self
Section 3: Thinking about Healthcare
11. A philosophy of health
12. Thinking about power
13. Patient or community? Public health
Section 4: Final Thoughts
14. Further study
15. Glossary
Index
Biography
David Misselbrook was a Lewisham GP for 30 years, a GP Trainer and GPVTS Course Organiser / Program Director. He was Dean of the Royal Society of Medicine, representing the RSM on the Directors of Continuing Professional Development committee of the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges, which develops and regulates UK CPD. He was President of the Faculty of the History and Philosophy of Medicine at the Society of Apothecaries, and Course Director for the Diploma in the Philosophy of Medicine (DPMSA). He then became Associate Professor of Family Medicine at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI) Bahrain, where he was the ethics lead for the medical school. He convened the Research Ethics Committee and was Chair of the School of Medicine Academic Committee. He was a member of the Bahrain National Health Regulatory Authority CPD Committee and the Bahrain Ministry of Health Internship Committee. He is now semi-retired, with ongoing academic and committee work.
‘...despite my own conflicts of interest [knowing that I had encouraged him to write it] I have no qualms in recommending ‘Thinking about Medicine’, whether as a recommended introductory text in medical philosophy or a survival tool for thoughtful clinicians ... Misselbrook masterfully uses the tools of philosophy to explain to us how we think the way we do, how we can think more clearly.’ - Dr Andrew Papanikitas for BJGP Life
‘Well worth reading. Highly recommend’ – Dr Alistair Appleby, Medical Researcher, Senior Lecturer at NHS Highland, on LinkedIn
'Misselbrook offers a high-level overview of central epistemological and metaphysical components of modern health care while simultaneously providing a practical handbook of key terminology, case studies, and reflection points [with] unique insight into the realist/antirealist debate in medical epistemology but also keen observations regarding the nature of the biomedical model of disease and the current criticism that this traditional model of medicine faces ... Highly recommended' - H. Storl, Augustana College (IL), for CHOICE
