Patient-Centred Medicine in Transition

Alan Bleakley is Professor of Medical Education and Medical Humanities at Plymouth University Peninsula School of Medicine, UK, recently formed from the dissolution of Peninsula Medical School, where he was Deputy Director of the Institute of Clinical Education, internationally recognized as a leading medical education academic and research centre. He initially studied zoology and physiology and biochemistry, but switched to psychology, where his interests in brain science soon faded to be replaced by a passion for a more arts and humanities based psychology. He trained as a psychotherapist, obtaining a DPhil from Sussex University, and practiced for over 25 years, also running qualifying courses in psychotherapy for the University of Exeter, and education in communication for GPs and other health practitioners. He also taught psychodynamic therapies on a doctoral qualifying course for clinical psychologists also at the University of Exeter. Alan came into medical education some years ago, where he has become a leading international figure, especially in the field of theory.

• -Foreword.- Introduction.- Communication hypocompetence--an  iatrogenic epidemic.- Democracy in medicine.- Patient-centeredness without a center.- How doctors think can be judged from how they listen and speak.- A new wave of patient-centeredness.- Models of patient-centered care.- What is meant by ‘empathy’?.- Gender matters in medical education.- Working and learning in ‘teams’ in a new era of health care.- Theorizing team process through cultural-historical activity theory (CHAT): networking and knotworking.- Theorizing team process through a Foucauldian perspective: gaining a voice in team activity at the clinical coalface.- Theorizing team process through actor-network-theory (ANT): communication practice as a theory in action.- Theorizing team process through Deleuzean rhizomatics: becoming a medical professional in nomadic teams.- Team process and complexity theory: blunting Occam’s Razor.- Building a collaborative community in medical education research.- Conclusion: professing medical identities in the liquid world of teams.​- Bibliography.- Index

From the book reviews: Selected as "Highly Commended" at BMA Medical Book Awards for 2014. "'This book usefully brings together the history, development and important tenets of patient-centred medicine, making it an almost unique reference for this important area of change in how medicine is delivered. ... brings together a wealth of evidence and information that may well be pivotal in both changing the way we educate our future health professionals, particularly doctors, but also deliver healthcare.'" (BMA Medical Book Awards, September, 2014) "The book draws on psychology, sociology, the arts, humanities, feminism, linguistics and philosophy. ... This is a book aimed mainly at the serious student of communication - gold dust if you are doing a PhD or a master's in professional practice. It would also sit well on the shelf of the front line clinician seeking to understand the numerous situations in clinical practice that are bedevilled by conflict, crossed wires, unvoiced anxieties and other communication failures." (Trish Greenhalgh, Nursing Standard, Vol. 29 (20), January, 2015)