Description:
Medical Humanities and Narrative Medicine have been increasingly relevant in view of the challenges that new health technologies and the digital world pose to truly person-centered healthcare. By Narrative Medicine we understand the practice of healthcare with narrative skills that allow professionals to recognize the suffering of others and of themselves; be able to interpret verbal and non-verbal narratives of illness; and be motivated to act in a way that respects the Person of the Patient and of the Professional. Surgery, like other medical specialties, requires space for reflection and debate on the meaning of humanism and its impact on the quality of care. This requirement is more pressing in this area, because it has escaped inquiry by Medical Humanities and Narrative Medicine. We believe that this is due to the nature of the surgical activity, carried out in an enclosed place, characterized by the use of sophisticated technologies, including robotics and artificial intelligence, and inaccessible to patients' relatives. In addition, the patients' own expectations about surgery reinforce the technological and highly specialized nature of this area, often marked by the neglect of the relational context, with clear prejudice to the parties involved and the activity itself. Although this gap has been identified, there has been no space for reflection on the humanization of care in surgery.
This book is, therefore, innovative, precisely because it responds to the previously mentioned shortcomings, offering its readers the opportunity to reflect on Humanism in Surgery.
Review Quotes:
"Its four editors investigate the 'humanism in surgery, the role of humanities in supporting it and the humanitarian efforts that surgeons take up by virtue of qualities that go far beyond technical interest.' Some of its chapters are structured as lectures, some as manifestos, but perhaps the most enlightening and rewarding contributions are twelve conversation-transcripts with a global series of senior surgeons ... . There are accessible and enlightening chapters ethics, stories, art, care, education and aesthetics ... ." (Gavin Francis, Surgeons News, December, 2025)
"One of the greatest strengths of this book is its clarity and comprehensibility. It features experts who have gained rich experience in challenging situations worldwide. The chapters can be read independently, allowing every reader to find their favorite surgeon or topic. A heart that needs no surgeon Humanism in Surgery provides insight, compassion, and guidance, demonstrating that medicine is inseparable from empathy and ethical responsibility." (Maria Bolevich, Unknown Focus, unknownfocus.com, December 4, 2025)