{"id":2320,"date":"2009-05-11T10:01:23","date_gmt":"2009-05-11T15:01:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/pmedicine.org\/epatients\/?p=2320"},"modified":"2012-01-30T18:12:57","modified_gmt":"2012-01-30T23:12:57","slug":"participatory-medicine-as-revolution-think-critically-communicate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/participatorymedicine.org\/epatients\/2009\/05\/participatory-medicine-as-revolution-think-critically-communicate.html","title":{"rendered":"Participatory Medicine as Revolution! Think Critically! Communicate!"},"content":{"rendered":"

My son graduated from college last year and is now in Nepal, visiting schools and writing about rural education under the Maoist regime. He was excited to tell me, when I visited him recently in India, about how a classic book on education, Pedagogy of the Oppressed<\/a> by Brazilian Paulo Freire<\/a>, radically influenced and inspired him to readjust his career goals.<\/p>\n

The book postulates that real revolution can occur only when the playing field is leveled between teacher and student, whereby critical thinking is infused in education and where \u2018teachers become students\u2019 and \u2018students become teachers.’ Communication amongst students (i.e., social networking<\/em>) is equally important in this equation. While in India I read this short book, substituting doctor <\/em>for \u2018teacher\u2019 and patient <\/em>for \u2018student\u2019 and indeed, feel better equipped for the PM agenda.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Freire expands upon the theories of Rousseau and Dewey, postulating that active learning, or problem solving using real-life situations, is necessary for the individual to translate theory into action or practice (this is the definition of praxis<\/em>, invoking the company I co-founded in 1998, Praxis.MD<\/a>). He describes and refutes traditional education as \u2018banking,\u2019 where the student is an empty account awaiting deposits or \u201cprescriptions\u201d from the teacher.<\/p>\n

Sound bites abound in this little volume! See the quotes below, where I\u2019ve italicized words that are PM substitutions or additions to Freire\u2019s language:<\/p>\n