---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: A physician is obligated to consider more…"
description: "\"“A physician is obligated to consider more than a diseased organ, more than even the whole man—he must view the man in his world.”\" — Harvey Cushing"
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4af/harvey-cushing-45699_doctor_a-physician-is-obligated-to-consider-mor_89680.png"
---

#  A physician is obligated to consider more than a diseased…

![“A physician is obligated to consider more than a diseased organ, more than even the whole man—he must view the man in his world.” quote by Harvey Cushing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4af/harvey-cushing-45699_doctor_a-physician-is-obligated-to-consider-mor_89680.png)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4af/harvey-cushing-45699_doctor_a-physician-is-obligated-to-consider-mor_89680.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4af/harvey-cushing-45699_doctor_a-physician-is-obligated-to-consider-mor_89680.png)

> ““A physician is obligated to consider more than a diseased organ, more than even the whole man—he must view the man in his world.””

[Harvey Cushing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harvey-cushing/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

Medical care must consider the patient's whole life context, not just the isolated pathology.

**In simple terms:** Treat the whole person.

Key Takeaway

Holistic view improves care.

Themes

holistic medicine patient-centered contextual health

Mood

professional empathetic

Type

clinical advice

When to use this quote

- clinical diagnosis
- treatment planning

Key Concepts

biopsychosocial model

Practical Applications

- integrated care
- medical education

Questions to Reflect On

- How does a patient's environment affect treatment?
- What barriers prevent holistic practice?

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Doctor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/doctor/) [Medicine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/medicine/) [Physician](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/physician/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/)

## Related quotes

> [The best thing I've learned is that you have to listen to your body, and you have to be your own physician. Don't ignore…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/valerie-cruz/the-best-thing-i-ve-learned-is-that-you-have-to-listen-to-your-body/)

[Valerie Cruz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/valerie-cruz/)

> [From the physician and lawyer keep not the truth hidden.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-florio/from-the-physician-and-lawyer-keep-not-the-truth-hidden/)

[John Florio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-florio/)

> [“When doctor saves a life, he also saves a family.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amit-kalantri/when-doctor-saves-a-life-he-also-saves-a-family/)

[Amit Kalantri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amit-kalantri/)

> [“THE MAXIMS OF MEDICINE Before you examine the body of a patient, Be patient to learn his story. For once you learn his story,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suzy-kassem/the-maxims-of-medicine-before-you-examine-the-body-of-a-patient-be/)

[Suzy Kassem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suzy-kassem/)

> [Well, I would never do a study because I'm a practicing physician. I mean, all I do is treat people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-atkins/well-i-would-never-do-a-study-because-i-m-a-practicing-physician-i/)

[Robert Atkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-atkins/)

> [Our reliance on the physician is a kind of despair of ourselves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/our-reliance-on-the-physician-is-a-kind-of-despair-of-ourselves/)

[Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/)

> [Physician, heal thyself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/luke-the-evangelist/physician-heal-thyself/)

[Luke the Evangelist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/luke-the-evangelist/)

> [My job as a physician is to make sure I have provided my patients with the best options to make the decisions that affect…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ami-bera/my-job-as-a-physician-is-to-make-sure-i-have-provided-my-patients/)

[Ami Bera](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ami-bera/)

> [There is a clear matter that I am not a practicing physician; I have never been a practitioner; everybody has known for decades.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-jarvik/there-is-a-clear-matter-that-i-am-not-a-practicing-physician-i-have/)

[Robert Jarvik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-jarvik/)

> [“The reader, knowing nothing about the ‘dark continent,’ filled in the blanks. Pictured Stone in a tent, kerosene lamp held up by a Hottentot…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-verghese/the-reader-knowing-nothing-about-the-dark-continent-filled-in-the/)

[Abraham Verghese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-verghese/)

> [A physician is not angry at the intemperance of a mad patient, nor does he take it ill to be railed at by a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lucius-annaeus-seneca/a-physician-is-not-angry-at-the-intemperance-of-a-mad-patient-nor/)

[Lucius Annaeus Seneca](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lucius-annaeus-seneca/)

> [“Jesus Christ, the holy Saviour is the Great Physician of Souls.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lailah-gifty-akita/jesus-christ-the-holy-saviour-is-the-great-physician-of-souls/)

[Lailah Gifty Akita](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lailah-gifty-akita/)

> [I became a physician in order to help save lives. I am at once a physician, a citizen, and a woman, and I am…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mildred-fay-jefferson/i-became-a-physician-in-order-to-help-save-lives-i-am-at-once-a/)

Mildred Fay Jefferson

> [Some days, I know beauty techniques like it's my job, and other days I can't do my makeup for the life of me. So…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-serratos/some-days-i-know-beauty-techniques-like-it-s-my-job-and-other-days-i/)

[Christian Serratos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-serratos/)

> [Well, first of all, let me say that I might have made a tactical error in not going to a physician for 20 years.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/warren-zevon/well-first-of-all-let-me-say-that-i-might-have-made-a-tactical-error/)

[Warren Zevon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/warren-zevon/)

## More by Harvey Cushing

> [I would like to see the day when somebody would be appointed surgeon somewhere who had no hands, for the operative part is the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harvey-cushing/i-would-like-to-see-the-day-when-somebody-would-be-appointed-surgeon/)

[Harvey Cushing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harvey-cushing/)

> [The capacity of man himself is only revealed when, under stress and responsibility, he breaks through his educational shell, and he may then be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harvey-cushing/the-capacity-of-man-himself-is-only-revealed-when-under-stress-and/)

[Harvey Cushing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harvey-cushing/)

> [Nothing great or new can be done without enthusiasm. Enthusiasm is the fly-wheel which carries your saw through the knots in the log.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harvey-cushing/nothing-great-or-new-can-be-done-without-enthusiasm-enthusiasm-is-the/)

[Harvey Cushing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harvey-cushing/)

> [ Standardization of our educational systems \[which includes testing\]is apt to stamp out individualism and defeat the very ends of education by leveling the product… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harvey-cushing/standardization-of-our-educational-systems-which-includes-testing-is/)

[Harvey Cushing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harvey-cushing/)

> [A certain excessiveness seems a necessary element in all greatness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harvey-cushing/a-certain-excessiveness-seems-a-necessary-element-in-all-greatness/)

[Harvey Cushing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harvey-cushing/)

> [There is only one ultimate and effectual preventative for the maladies to which flesh is heir, and that is death.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harvey-cushing/there-is-only-one-ultimate-and-effectual-preventative-for-the/)

[Harvey Cushing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harvey-cushing/)

> [In these days when science is clearly in the saddle and when our knowledge of disease is advancing at a breathless pace, we are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harvey-cushing/in-these-days-when-science-is-clearly-in-the-saddle-and-when-our/)

[Harvey Cushing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harvey-cushing/)

> [Standardization of our educational systems is apt to stamp out individualism and defeat the very ends of education by leveling the product down rather…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harvey-cushing/standardization-of-our-educational-systems-is-apt-to-stamp-out/)

[Harvey Cushing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harvey-cushing/)

[Explore all 9 Harvey Cushing quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harvey-cushing/)

## More Doctor quotes

> [Many patients imagine that they have tried everything. True, they have used many remedies, but they have never had the cause of their infirmity…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-d-palmer/many-patients-imagine-that-they-have-tried-everything-true-they-have/)

[Daniel D. Palmer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-d-palmer/)

> [I think people need to be comfortable questioning the authority of a doctor.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susannah-cahalan/i-think-people-need-to-be-comfortable-questioning-the-authority-of-a/)

[Susannah Cahalan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susannah-cahalan/)

> [The doctor who diagnosed me with ALS, or motor neuron disease, told me that it would kill me in two or three years.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-hawking/the-doctor-who-diagnosed-me-with-als-or-motor-neuron-disease-told-me/)

[Stephen Hawking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-hawking/)

> [Every patient carries her or his own doctor inside.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-schweitzer/every-patient-carries-her-or-his-own-doctor-inside/)

[Albert Schweitzer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-schweitzer/)

> [“As a special branch of general philosophy, pathogenesis had never been explored. In my opinion it had never been approached in a strictly scientific…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blaise-cendrars/as-a-special-branch-of-general-philosophy-pathogenesis-had-never-been/)

[Blaise Cendrars](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blaise-cendrars/)

> [A creative space is an important thing. There are so many studios that feel like doctor's offices in Nashville. I couldn't write there.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brad-paisley/a-creative-space-is-an-important-thing-there-are-so-many-studios-that/)

[Brad Paisley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brad-paisley/)

> [We ought to observe that practice which is the hardest of all-especially for young physicians-we ought to throw in no medicine at all-to abstain-to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-randolph-of-roanoke/we-ought-to-observe-that-practice-which-is-the-hardest-of-all/)

John Randolph of Roanoke

> [The miracle drugs (neuroleptics) cause the worst plague of brain damage in medical history.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-breggin/the-miracle-drugs-neuroleptics-cause-the-worst-plague-of-brain-damage/)

[Peter Breggin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-breggin/)

> [“old-fashioned, gentle Scottish physician, unmoved by the considerations of profit and personal gain that could so disfigure medicine. That doctors should consider themselves businessmen…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-mccall-smith/old-fashioned-gentle-scottish-physician-unmoved-by-the-considerations/)

[Alexander McCall Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-mccall-smith/)

> [I've never bought this idea of taking a therapeutic distance. If I see a student or house staff cry, I take great faith in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-verghese/i-ve-never-bought-this-idea-of-taking-a-therapeutic-distance-if-i-see/)

[Abraham Verghese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-verghese/)

> [Heart surgeons do not have the world's smallest egos: when you ask them to name the world's three leading practitioners, they never can remember…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sara-paretsky/heart-surgeons-do-not-have-the-world-s-smallest-egos-when-you-ask/)

[Sara Paretsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sara-paretsky/)

> [Thankfully, I found a doctor at Presbyterian Hospital in New York, Scott Hammer, who diagnosed my chronic fatigue as the Epstein-Barr virus, and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tucker-halpern/thankfully-i-found-a-doctor-at-presbyterian-hospital-in-new-york/)

[Tucker Halpern](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tucker-halpern/)

> [My parents are so supportive of whatever we want to do and completely nurtured that, and they're so proud of that as well. My…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-john-kamen/my-parents-are-so-supportive-of-whatever-we-want-to-do-and-completely/)

[Hannah John-Kamen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-john-kamen/)

> [Before we can wave the handkerchief, we have to have a cold.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-d-dangoor/before-we-can-wave-the-handkerchief-we-have-to-have-a-cold/)

[Robert D Dangoor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-d-dangoor/)

> [Tuberculosis, starvation, fatigue, and there are many who have no desire to live.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-r-murrow/tuberculosis-starvation-fatigue-and-there-are-many-who-have-no-desire/)

[Edward R. Murrow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-r-murrow/)

[Browse all 3,922 Doctor quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/doctor/)

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "“A physician is obligated to consider more than a diseased organ, more than even the whole man—he must view the man in his world.”",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Harvey Cushing"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harvey-cushing/a-physician-is-obligated-to-consider-more-than-a-diseased-organ-more/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Doctor"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harvey-cushing/a-physician-is-obligated-to-consider-more-than-a-diseased-organ-more/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4af/harvey-cushing-45699_doctor_a-physician-is-obligated-to-consider-mor_89680.png",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4af/harvey-cushing-45699_doctor_a-physician-is-obligated-to-consider-mor_89680.png",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4af/harvey-cushing-45699_doctor_a-physician-is-obligated-to-consider-mor_89680.png",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“A physician is obligated to consider more than a diseased organ, more than even the whole man—he must view…” — Harvey Cushing",
                "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                "creator": {
                    "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                }
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "BreadcrumbList",
            "itemListElement": [
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 1,
                    "name": "Home",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 2,
                    "name": "Quotes",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 3,
                    "name": "Harvey Cushing",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harvey-cushing/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "“A physician is obligated to consider...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harvey-cushing/a-physician-is-obligated-to-consider-more-than-a-diseased-organ-more/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harvey-cushing/a-physician-is-obligated-to-consider-more-than-a-diseased-organ-more/#breadcrumb"
        },
        {
            "@type": "WebSite",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "publisher": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "Organization",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "logo": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png",
                "width": 512,
                "height": 512
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
