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The “Medical friendship” or the true meaning of the doctor-patient relationship from two complementary perspectives: Goya and Laín

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Abstract

This essay aims to broaden the understanding of the nature of the physician–patient relationship. To do so, the concept of medical philia that Pedro Laín Entralgo proposes is analysed and is considered taking into consideration the relational trait of the human being and the structure of human action as a story of the permanent tension that exists between freedom and truth, where the ontological foundation of the hermeneutic of the "Gift" and the analogy of “Love” as the central dynamic of this action, helps explain the nature of the doctor-patient relationship as a "friendship relationship". This understanding offers a perspective differing from just the utilitarian considerations of current "patient-centred" approaches and proposed the redirection of the teaching of medicine to more humanistic approaches. The dynamic of the doctor-patient relationship proposed here in its most genuine essence is effectively expressed in physician concrete attitudes that the patient usually captures and relates as the “the doctor’s way of being”. Goya's painting, Self-portrait with Dr Arrieta (1820), can be taken as an outstanding artistic representation of this expanded dimension of the medical act, capturing the “medical friendship” in action.

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Acknowledgements

I am indebted to José Ángel Agejas for the preliminary discussions that allowed me to articulate this essay and to Santiago Alvarez for his comments on the draft manuscript, enriching and clarifying it.

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  1. Department of Medicine & Medical Education Unit, Escuela de Medicina, Universidad Francisco de Vitoria Edificio E, Ctra. Pozuelo-Majadahonda Km 1, Pozuelo de Alarcon, 800, 28223, Madrid, Spain

    Roger Ruiz-Moral

  2. Instituto Maimónides de Investigación Biomédica de Córdoba (IMIBIC), Córdoba, Spain

    Roger Ruiz-Moral

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Correspondence to Roger Ruiz-Moral.

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Ruiz-Moral, R. The “Medical friendship” or the true meaning of the doctor-patient relationship from two complementary perspectives: Goya and Laín. Med Health Care and Philos 25, 111–117 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11019-021-10056-x

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