The 2014 BBC Reith Lectures were given by Atul Gawande, an American doctor and writer,
From their website;
In his lecture series, The Future of Medicine, Dr Atul Gawande will examine the nature of progress and failure in medicine, a field defined by what he calls ‘the messy intersection of science and human fallibility’. Known for both his clear analysis and vivid storytelling, he will explore the growing importance of systems in medicine and argue that the future role of the medical profession in our lives should be bigger than simply assuring health and survival. The 2014 Reith Lectures
The first lecture, Why do Doctors Fail?, will explore the nature of imperfection in medicine. In particular, Gawande will examine how much of failure in medicine remains due to ignorance (lack of knowledge) and how much is due to ineptitude (failure to use existing knowledge) and what that means for where medical progress will come from in the future.
In the second lecture, The Century of the System, Gawande will focus on the impact that the development of systems has had – and should have in the future – on medicine and overcoming failures of ineptitude. He will dissect systems of all kinds, from simple checklists to complex mechanisms of many parts. And he will argue for how they can be better designed to transform care from the richest parts of the world to the poorest.
The third lecture, The Problem of Hubris, will examine the great unfixable problems in life and healthcare – aging and death. Gawande will argue that the reluctance of society and medical institutions to recognise the limits of what professionals can do is producing widespread suffering. But research is revealing how this can change.
The fourth and final lecture, The Idea of Wellbeing, will argue that medicine must shift from a focus on health and survival to a focus on wellbeing – on protecting, insofar as possible, people’s abilities to pursue their highest priorities in life. And, as he will suggest from the story of his father’s life and death from cancer, those priorities are nearly always more complex than simply to live longer.
I thought these lectures were so interesting and thought-provoking that I want to have easy access to them for myself and – just in case the BBC pages go down – want them to have a permanent home. Therefore I’ve taken the transcripts from the BBC and put links here.
Original Sources (audio and transcripts available):
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b04bsgvm
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b04sv1s5
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b04tjdlj
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b04v380z
Transcripts locally
