Navigating Surfaces and Voices in the Diagnostic Journey: Disability and the Work of Listening
Brian Brock, DPhil
Professor of Moral and Practical Theology
School of Divinity, History, Philosophy and Art History
King's College, University of Aberdeen
Medical training today has been deeply reshaped by algorithmic diagnostic logics and the emplacement of healthcare in quasi-industrial “care systems”. This evolution of medical knowledge and practice has reshaped how doctors listen to their patients. What deformations might we expect to arise in a context in which medical education is placing premium on medical tests as yielding diagnostic certainty? And how are medical professionals today to weigh the role of the patient’s account of their ailments in relation to the data provided by diagnostic tests and equipment? The dynamics of listening to patients in a diagnostic context will be the focus of this talk, which Dr. Brock approaches with a special interest in addressing the markedly lower healthcare outcomes of the intellectually disabled in contemporary healthcare systems.