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Cynicism as a strategic virtue

Rose, Arthur; Duschinsky, Robbie; Macnaughton, Jane

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Authors

Arthur Rose

Robbie Duschinsky



Abstract

Doctors are often forced to negotiate between imperatives of policy and the demands of good practice. Cynicism arises in the welter of difficult feelings elicited by such contexts, and is widely assumed to be bad for patients, national health systems, and for the clinicians themselves. Cynicism is typically regarded as a cause of distrust, professional misconduct, and a pathway to burnout. It is true that untempered cynicism can have these consequences. However, much of the cynicism seen in contemporary health care is not untempered, nor is it simply negative or unprofessional behaviour. Rather than simply the shrivelled hope of good practice, we argue that more balanced forms of cynicism can support rather than undermine quality of care.

Citation

Rose, A., Duschinsky, R., & Macnaughton, J. (2017). Cynicism as a strategic virtue. The Lancet, 389(10070), 692-693. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0140-6736%2817%2930349-5

Journal Article Type Article
Online Publication Date Feb 17, 2017
Publication Date Feb 18, 2017
Deposit Date May 25, 2017
Publicly Available Date Mar 29, 2024
Journal The Lancet
Print ISSN 0140-6736
Publisher Elsevier
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 389
Issue 10070
Pages 692-693
DOI https://doi.org/10.1016/s0140-6736%2817%2930349-5
Related Public URLs https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/bitstream/handle/1810/262786/Rose_et_al-2017-The_Lancet-AM.pdf?sequence=1

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