Victoria Sweet, MD is a prize-winning author, medical historian, and professor of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco. She is the author of two bestselling books: “God's Hotel,” which details her time as a doctor in the last almshouse in the United States, and “Slow Medicine,” a memoir that outlines her approach to medicine as both a craft and art. In this episode, Dr. Sweet discusses why she reframes the doctor-patient relationship from one of a mechanic repairing a machine, to one of a gardener tending to her plants. Through vivid stories of her remarkable experiences, she illustrates how combining insights of premodern medicine with advances of modern health care can lead to better healing.
In this episode, you will hear about:
- How the writings of Carl Jung drew Dr. Sweet to medicine - 2:18
- The story of how a resourceful nurse and a stubborn patient taught Dr. Sweet what it meant to be “a real doctor” - 9:36
- The origin of the Slow Medicine movement and how it shapes Dr. Sweet’s approach to patient care - 16:19
- The Philosophy of the Minimum and why examining side effects and placebo groups is critical to delivering the best patient care - 22:03
- Dr. Sweet’s time at Laguna Honda Hospital, the “last almshouse in the United States”, and what she learned about healing from the slower pace of that hospital - 27:07
- How studying medieval figures like Hildegard of Bingen influenced Dr. Sweet’s appreciation for premodern medicine and how she pairs it with modern medicine - 33:58
- Dr. Sweet’s advice for clinicians facing the mounting challenges of the modern corporate medical landscape - 40:02
Dr. Sweet is the author of God’s Hotel: A Doctor, a Hospital, and a Pilgrimage to the Heart of Medicine and Slow Medicine: The Way to Healing.
Dr. Sweet discusses the influence of Carl Jung’s memoir Memories, Dreams, and Reflections
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