Language exercises a powerful impact on medical care as the words that physicians use with patients have the power to heal or harm. The practice of medicine is shaped by the potent metaphors that are prevalent in clinical care, especially military metaphors and the words of war that bring with them unfortunate consequences for patients and physicians alike. Physicians who fight disease turn the patient into a passive battlefield. Patients are encouraged to remain stoic, blamed for "failing...

The renewal of medical curricula generally arises from emerging pedagogies (e.g. problem-based learning), new technologies (e.g. high fidelity simulation), or prevailing sociocultural forces (e.g. complexity of health care delivery and team-based care). Approximately 15 years ago, a team of physicians and administrators sought to take this further: by considering the very nature of medical practice and the patient-physician relationship that is the context and conduit of caring and care, t...