Observation
by
Observation: from the Latin observationem, a watching over, “an action… performed with prescribed usage,” as in the observation of a religious rite or a civic ritual expressing a patriotic ideal (OED Online 2021, “observation”). The ritualistic undertones point to the sacred nature of the everyday work of busy clinicians: seeing patients. Observation is crucial to diagnosis, to the creation of treatment plans, and to the promotion of healing. To do it accurately, unhinged from judgment, is an act of respect, healing, and mastery. For a patient to be accurately seen and heard is a major event in their journey—and too often a rare occurrence. It is too simplistic to understand observation as the careful watching of a single phenomenon in isolation; rather, observation extends to its cause and effects as well as to its physiological, social, cultural, political, and linguistic context. It is not only the act of paying attention; observation is a fundamental means through which we know the world. It drives the interactive progression from novice to expert in the clinician. Without observation, medical knowledge would not exist. The unique prowess of eastern medicine lies in its basis in three millennia of observing the human body. Western medicine,...
This essay may be found on page 151 of the printed volume.