The Yale Journal for Humanities in Medicine
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Spirituality, Religious Wisdom, and the Care of the Patient
Forgiveness and the Care of the Patient: Introduction
Alan B. Astrow, M.D.
aastrow@maimonidesmed.org
Our May 6, 2002 conference was entitled "Forgiveness and the Care of the Patient: A Catholic/Jewish dialogue." Serious illness may bring to the surface long-standing tensions in families or among friends. Like it or not, these issues often play themselves out before doctor or nurse and we need to know how best to respond.
Health care professionals may also feel a need to seek forgiveness in the context of treating the seriously ill. Practicing medicine to the highest level requires the ability to acknowledge error and then correct mistakes. But to admit that we are able to do better is also to admit that we have fallen short in a setting in which human life is at stake. Forgiveness may enable us to take proper care of the next patient.
Regret, forgiveness, and reconciliation are regions of human experience that our religious traditions have long discussed and debated. We asked our two speakers, Christina Puchalski and David Novak to help us better to understand their role in the response to and treatment of human illness.
Published: September 17, 2002