Live Breaking News & Updates on Imperial College Centre For Engagement

Many clinical acts are performances and we should think of that as a strength, not a weakness, writes Roger Kneebone

I think of medicine as a performing art, although to many people the word “performing” sounds suspect, almost insulting. It smacks of inauthenticity, of putting on a mask and presenting something that is not the “real you.” This is a fundamental misunderstanding. Whenever we engage with other people, we select from multiple authentic selves. Whether it is dinner with parents, an evening out with friends, a job interview, or a clinical consultation, we are constantly making choices about how we present ourselves and gauging how those choices are perceived. Within medicine, instead of asking “when are we performing?” clinicians might ask “when are we not performing?”

Theatre, music, dance, and public speaking as with medicine are rooted in a protracted grind of rehearsal, memorisation, and preparation. You spend endless hours in practice rooms ....

United Kingdom , Peter Brook , Fabrice Ringuet , Rachel Warr , Fernando Bello , Aaron Williamon , Fleur Oakes , Roger Kneebone , World Health Organization , Imperial College Centre For Engagement , Royal College Of Music , Division Of Surgery , Imperial College , Royal College , Imperial Royal College , Music Centre , Performance Science , Will Houstoun , Phil Bayman , Empty Space , Imperial College Centre , Simulation Science , Penguin United Kingdom , Front Psychol , Ann Surg ,