Escaping the Scarcity Loop

Please note, this article is an ‘author’s proof’ and may differ slightly from the final published version. This version is kindly supplied by the author and is in line with the copyright arrangements with the publisher for the author to supply copies via an institutional repository such as WE-R NHS. The author accepts personal liability for any copyright case that arises as a result of sharing this document without permission/agreement from the original publication.

Extract from Introduction:

We belong to a group of medical educators in London who share a concern about pressures in our work that threaten our capacity for reflection and creativity. We meet regularly to discuss papers we have found challenging or perturbing, in order to exchange ideas about how these might inform our practice. We recently discussed an article by Arthur Frank where he outlines sociological influences on the prevailing discourse of medical practice. Frank argues that sociologists have a duty to uncover the unexamined assumptions that underlie the discourses of today’s society and to question these when needed. We were intrigued by Frank’s use of the term ‘scarcity loop’ to describe an assumption that he believes currently dominates health care.

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Weblink of the final published article on The Lancet website.