First Do No Harm

Mary E. Knatterud, Ph.D. is a research associate and assistant professor in the Department of Surgery of the University of Minnesota Medical School in Minneapolis. Dr. Knatterud is a fellow of the American Medical Writers Association (AMWA), a member of the Conference of College Composition and Communication (CCCC) and of the Council of Science Editors (CSE). She has published articles about medical communication in the AMWA Journal, Dialysis& Transplantation, and Minnesota Physician among others.

Chapter I. Overview: A Rhetorical Shift, Over Time, in the Social Construction of Patients in the New England Journal of Medicine Tables 1-5 Chapter II. New England Journal of Medicine , March 25, 1828: On a Last-Name Basis with Fleshed-Out Patients Chapter III. New England Journal of Medicine , March 25, 1858: Medical Priests Constructing Good and Bad Patients Chapter IV. New England Journal of Medicine , March 29, 1888: Reductionist Measurements and Refractory Patients Chapter V. New England Journal of Medicine , March 28,1918: Nationalistic and Metaphoric Constructions of Patients Chapter VI. New England Journal of Medicine , March 25, 1948: Problem Patients to Perform on and Manage Chapter VII. Conclusion: Speculation about Causes and Consequences of Less Empathetic Language Appendix A: Classical Roots and Modern Meaning of Empathy Appendix B: Suggestions for Avoiding Nonempathetic Language Appendix C: Brief Summaries of New England Journal of Medicine Chapters