https://doi.org/10.67147/literariness.v1i2.047
Narratives of the State and Scalpel: Doctor Memoirs Across Borders—A Comparative Study of I Am a Government Doctor and The Postmortem of Postmortem by Dr. Kumar Nanaware, and The Checklist Manifesto and Better by Dr. Atul Gawande
SHAMLY P
Research Scholar, PG and Research Department of English
Farook College (Autonomous)
Affiliated to the University of Calicut
DR. HABEEB C
Associate Professor and Research Supervisor
PG and Research Department of English
Farook College (Autonomous)
Affiliated to the University of Calicut
Abstract: This paper explores the multifaceted ethical problems and challenges within the government healthcare systems as represented in the narratives of I Am a Government Doctor and The Postmortem of Postmortem by Dr. Kumar Nanaware and The Checklist Manifesto and Better by Dr. Atul Gawande from the perspective of the medical humanities. It also applies Michael Foucault’s concept of political vision of medicine from his work, The Birth of the Clinic: An Archeology of Medical Perception and explores how doctors resist the appropriation of medicine by political/economic powers. According to Foucault, doctors have the moral and political responsibility to fight against poor governance and inequality. These memoirs are written by two distinguished doctors; one practicing in India and another in the USA. These works elucidate on the complexities and impediments involved in ensuring quality healthcare to the public. This paper gives a comparative study of the state-driven medicine in India and the system-driven medical bureaucracy in the US.
Keywords: political responsibility, inequality, institutional mistreatment, systemic abuse, patient outcomes
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