#23 - Must Be True, Author's Perspective

[moshei24]

Is (A) wrong because being at risk to disconnecting doesn't imply that it often occurs?

I understand why the correct answer is the correct answer, though.

Thanks!

[Nikki Siclunov]

(A) is wrong for a slightly different reason. The author states that medical coursework risks disconnecting students from the personal and ethical aspects of doctoring, not from giving adequate emphasis to courses in medical ethics. The author never argued that students are somehow ignoring the training in ethics they receive in medical school; the point is that such training is inadequate, because it relies heavily on traditional philosophical ethics. This proves (E) to be correct: neither scientific training, nor traditional philosophical ethics, can adequately prepare doctors to deal with the emotional dimension of patients' needs - hence the need for narrative literature, which is uniquely suited to the development of flexible ethical thinking (lines 32 - 34).

[est15]

I was unsure about choosing E because it mentions dealing with the emotional dimension of patients' needs, and I don't think the passage ever mentioned human emotions. If it were about dealing with the ethical dimension of patients' needs, I would be okay with the answer choice. I just felt like it was making too big of a leap to go from ethics to emotions. Can you explain this? Thanks.

[David Boyle]

I was unsure about choosing E because it mentions dealing with the emotional dimension of patients' needs, and I don't think the passage ever mentioned human emotions. If it were about dealing with the ethical dimension of patients' needs, I would be okay with the answer choice. I just felt like it was making too big of a leap to go from ethics to emotions. Can you explain this? Thanks.

Hello est15,

Some of the lines of the passage between 20 and 30 say, "contributes little to the understanding of everyday human experience . . . understanding of human behavior that reflects a wide array of relationships . . . for this is what is required to develop empathy." Especially the word "empathy" at the end shows that answer E, about emotions, is fitting, even if the word "emotion" wasn't in the passage.

Hope this helps,
David

[est15]

Thanks. I read the passage again and saw "remaining empathetic to the needs of patients" in the first sentence of the first paragraph, which also supports answer choice E.