Hear, See, Touch: The Core of Medical Practice

Dear Colleagues, 

In our August issue, we include a review article on neural modulation strategies in neuroscience and two research articles: one on a gender-oriented approach to human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination among preclinical medical students, and one on sexual offenses against sexual inviolability in Türkiye, including judicial statistics and forensic examination coverage.. 

In this issue, our cover painting comes from the other side of the world: Self-portrait from my last operation before retiring as a general surgeon, by Dr. Andrew Seal, a Canadian surgeon and scholar who paints on a range of subjects and, as you will see on the inside cover, has a good eye for photography. I found his paintings and photographs through his blog. Dr. Seal has spent a lifetime teaching medicine, and with his permission, I would like to pass his thoughts about medical education on to our readers.

“My belief is that the art of medicine is about hearing as well as listening, about seeing as well as looking, about caring as well as treating and about feeling as well as touching. Perhaps, in no greater way is trust between a doctor and a patient expressed than in the laying on of hands. Touching is one of the most intimate acts that we perform as physicians. It is sacred, a defining moment, for in its action our patients know how much we care. They permit us to palpate, to percuss, to incise. My earliest memories as a medical student were watching the manner in which my teachers would touch their patients. The gentle holding of the hand, the taking of the pulse, the steady palpation to reveal the site of pain, the handshake of greeting that, with its strength, tells the patient, I am here, and this moment is yours. This universal image of a student and a teacher communicating with their patient is one that I believe captures the essence of the art of medicine and one that I expressed to the students at the end of a graduation address I gave some years ago:

Listen and you will hear.

Look and you will see.

Touch and you will feel.

Treat and you will care.

Practice your art with compassion

And live your lives with passion.

Be a student always

And a teacher ever,

And your lives will be as fulfilled

And meaningful as any who have gone before

And any who are yet to come.”

Advancements in medical science, the internet, and artificial intelligence, alongside the evolution of diagnostic tools, have fundamentally transformed medicine beyond its traditional paradigm. Nevertheless, we must remain mindful that we care for individuals who are someone’s parents, children, or siblings, and we should extend the same level of care to them as we would to our own families. 

We need more research articles to reach our goal of being listed in national and international indexes. Please keep up the support and submit your research articles for our next issue, which will be published in December. 

Stay healthy,

Gülderen Yanıkkaya Demirel

Editor-in-Chief