Covenant Medicine

Book excerpt: Covenant Medicine Written for healthcare providers and patients, Covenant Medicine refocuses the therapeutic relationship between physician and patient onto mutual trust, honesty, and integrity. After identifying the changes in medical culture, David H. Beyda, MD, asks fellow doctors to fix what s broken with the system, being accountable, intentional, and committed to and for the good of the patient. He discusses the physician/patient relationship as a covenant, which allows the physician to consciously agree to be truly present when working with a patient and for the patient to demand such quality, thoughtful, compassionate care. Interested in the importance of the interplay between physical and spiritual health, Beyda suggests that a covenant relationship can contain transformational aspects such as faith. This allows the physician and the patient to transcend the confining definitions of illness and come to a greater understanding of the nuances of caregiving."