Once upon a time and then? Another story

Abstract

A retired professor of chemistry with his nephropathy that led him to attend a pre-dialysis clinic writes to his doctor, in a cross-section of Italian life from the post-war period to today, some truly wise and important concepts:

– in every field, for the existence of a good functioning of the whole supply chain, order, identity of views and wisdom are needed

– the true professional, even if he knows about medicine, should not give a patient a medicine or recommend a therapy only because a “machine” told him that a parameter of his analysis is altered, but he must speak with the patients, knowing their medical history well, to know more about them, such as the life they live, the profession they exercise, the culture, the family in which they live, all things that contribute to make the weak point of the disease more evident

– the most important gift that a teacher must possess, but above all a doctor and a health worker, is to be able to inspire confidence as it is ultimately the thing that helps and that leads to hope for the future. (narrative nephrology)