2019 Volume 17 Issue 1 Pages 1-7
Psychosomatic medicine should develop into comprehensive medicine. This is expressed by both Franz Alexander, who is a founder of psychosomatic medicine in the U.S., and Yujiro Ikemi, who began psychosomatic medicine in Japan. They had a similar view about the future of psychosomatic medicine. Terms like comprehensive medicine and patient-oriented medicine are so attractive that a number of universities and hospitals are led to incorporate them into their mission statements. Nevertheless, such medical practice is rarely found. Here in Japan, our predecessors made a valuable contribution towards integrating treatment methods, which can be traced to Kunihiko Hashida who proposed “Zenki” medicine(integrated medicine)before the war. On the other hand, the need for general practitioners has been voiced. General practitioners must be able to practice comprehensive medicine. It is therefore desired to set up a graduate school for the education, research and practice of comprehensive medicine. Following are the requirements for general practitioners:
1. Giving equal weight to pathogenesis and salutogenesis.
2. Seeing a patient as a whole person by taking account of all the aspects of his/her life(intrapersonal communication).
3. Understanding a patient along the birth-death continuum.
4. Being prepared for diagnosis of and treatment for functional somatic syndrome.
5. Making an early diagnosis when symptoms of organic disease are noticed, making a referral to a specialist, and using complementary methods that help to reduce side effects.
6. Giving care to terminal patients.
7. Acting as a leader in team care medicine.
8. Establishing a doctor-patient relationship(interpersonal communication).
9. Educating patients to help them understand the need for behavioral change.
10. Undertaking clinical research.
11. Polishing skills and knowledge : philosophy of health, medicine, and life and death, and medical ethics.
