J. Donald Boudreau, a graduate of Dalhousie University, is a respiratory physician. He is a former Associate Dean of undergraduate medical education at McGill University, a member of its Centre for Medical Education, and a Professor of the Arnold P. Gold Foundation, a foundation dedicated to promoting humanism in medicine.

Eric J. Cassell is Emeritus Professor of Public Health at Weill Medical College of Cornell University and Adjunct Professor of Medicine at McGill University. He is also a fellow of the Hastings Centre, a member of the Institutes of Health of the National Academy of Sciences, and Master of the American College of Physicians.

Abraham Fuks is a clinical immunologist with experience in research and clinical practice. He served as Dean of the Faculty of Medicine at McGill from 1995 to 2006 and was a Visiting Professor in the Department of Social Medicine at Harvard University in 2007-2008. He has an ongoing scholarly interest in the language of medicine and its metaphoric structure and in the role of narratives in the patient-physician relationship.

"Physicianship and the Rebirth of Medical Education is one of the most exciting books about medical education that I've ever read. It might be the best export McGill University has sent us since William Osler deÂparted for Philadelphia." -- Jack Coulehan, The Pharos

"This book, written by luminaries in medical education, provides educators with both the theoretical underpinnings and the practical application of an equal emphasis on understanding the persons that doctors treat as well as the problems (including but not exclusively diseases) that bring them to the attention of a medical professional. It is a refreshing approach that emphasizes what medicine should actually be about." -- Susan J Stagno, MD, Doodys

"It is rare for a specialty textbook to bring song to the soul. Yet my reading of this remarkable volume resuscitated an idealism chronically dulled by cynicism. Three eminent physicians and medical educators have committed twenty years to the thought-laced and morally compassed process of reimagining the goals and methods of the medical school. Not just pie in the sky, what they describe is now in full force within the required curriculum of a major North American medical school. Drs. Boudreau, Cassell, and Fuks propose a radical conceptual framework for a person-centered and function-focused health care. With humility and courage, they challenge their readers to reimagine a medicine that respects patients, nourishes doctors, contributes to health, and enhances life. And then they tell us all how we can get there. They are as earnest as Job, as clear-eyed as Chekhov, as creative as William Carlos Williams, and as demanding as Osler. If you teach medical students or are one, read this book."

--Dr. Rita Charon, Professor of Medicine and Founder and Executive Director of the Program in Narrative Medicine, Columbia University

"Physicianship and the Rebirth of Medical Education is a remarkable book on medical education thought, insight and reform. Written by three master medical educators, this literary gem should be mandatory reading for every medical school curriculum committee and medical school dean across the globe. The authors brilliantly reaffirm the moral foundation of medical education which is anchored by the resolute relationship among the attending teacher - the student - and the patient. Their 'Physicianship Curriculum' is built upon the history of medical education spanning Aristolelian philosophy, Flexnerian reform, 20th Century medical science and clinical decision making and competency-based education.

The early chapters form the historical and epistemological context that justifies the author's 'Educational Blueprint' for a modern medical education curriculum. A curriculum that is inclusive of interdisciplinary care, humanism, empathic compassion, mastery of clinical judgment, and anchored by the important triad of the attending teacher - the student - and the patient. In the end, Boudreau, Cassell and Fuks translate the powerful clinical narratives of Richard Reynolds and John Stone's 'On Doctoring' (2001) into a dynamic journey of curricular enlightenment." --Dr. Christopher C. Colenda, Dean Emeritus, College of Medicine, Texas A&M University Health Sciences; Former Chancellor for Health Sciences, West Virginia University

"This book has arisen from the friendship of three of the most inspiring medical educators in North America. Throughout, it shows evidence of their shared passion for humane clinical practice and pedagogy. Starting from the core notion of physicianship, they argue in favour of a new conceptual framework for medical education: one that puts the sick person rather than disease at the centre, and is resolutely relationship-based. They draw on sources from Aristotle through Osler and contemporary educational research to support their case, and show in detail how they have appied these principles in the physicianship curriculum at McGill University. This is not only an impressive contribution to the field of medical education but a literate, compassionate and moving one, that should be of interest to everyone who cares about how doctors should be trained." --Dr. John Launer, Associate Dean for Faculty Development, Health Education England; Honorary Lifetime Consultant, Tavistock Clinic

"This timely book addresses the fragmentation and alienation experienced by physician educators, patients and students in contemporary healthcare settings. The authors call for a new 'physicianship' that effectively combines the role of professional with that of healer (a term woefully abandoned in medical education). They unabashedly revive Oslerian notions of apprenticeship, caring, bearing witness to suffering and artful practice, all while providing a fully modern approach to curricular design. Just the shot in the arm we all need." --Dr. Allan Peterkin, Professor of Psychiatry and Family Medicine, University of Toronto

"100 years after Flexner, the authors convincingly present the case for bold change in medical education, moving beyond 'curricular tinkering' to Physicianship as a core defining vision. Students in a craft apprenticeship will learn authentic whole person care, focused on functional impairment and healing, rather than disease and cure. Interpersonal relationships among the triad of patient, student, and clinician-teachers are key to both learning and doctoring. A proposed four year curricular structure is grounded in rich critical description of history, philosophy, theories and previous approaches to medical education." --Dr. Carol P. Herbert, Professor Emerita and Former Dean, Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry, Western University

"A compelling journey of the evolving art and science of medicine and the healing relationship. Founded on great respect for the past, deep understanding of the present and brilliant imagining of the possibilities of the future. Wise, thoughtful, challenging but practical." --Dr. Christine Bennett, Dean, School of Medicine, Sydney--The University of Notre Dame Australia

"The authors of Physicianship and the Rebirth of Medical Education offer a thoughtful description of the historical development of medical education and the practice of medicine as well as their parallel philosophical, ethical and humanistic underpinnings. They present a cogent case for a return to the essential concept that tending to the ill and vulnerable, like tending to the personal and professional development of the physician, revolve around caring relationships and knowledge of persons. How obvious this sounds, and yet, how far we have strayed from this truth. This is not a book, however, about a return to some prior 'golden age.' The authors outline the infrastructure (learning academies, attending teachers), learning contexts (alongside expert clinicians with patients) and developmental curricula necessary to graduate physicians who will embody, practice and perhaps educate others with integrity, professionalism, compassion and authenticity."

--Beth A. Lown, MD, Associate Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School; Chief Medical Officer, The Schwartz Center for Compassionate Healthcare