The rhetoric of medical discourse : an analysis of the major genres / Karin Lindblad Yanoff.

Format:

Book

Manuscript

Microformat

Thesis/Dissertation

Author/Creator:

Yanoff, Karin Lindblad.

Contributor:

Kinneavy, James L., 1920-1999, advisor.

Conn, Peter, advisor.

University of Pennsylvania.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Penn dissertations--English.

English--Penn dissertations.

Local Subjects:

Penn dissertations--English.

English--Penn dissertations.

Physical Description:

2 volumes (xx, 757 leaves) : illustrations ; 29 cm

Production:

1988.

Summary:

Although frequently criticized, physicians' professional writing has never been comprehensively classified and rhetorically analyzed. This dissertation systematically describes the rhetorical features of the six major genres of physicians' writing to aid its study and improvement.

Physician interviews and surveys of literature and of U.S. medical schools determined the most important kinds of whole texts written by medical students, house officers, private practitioners, and academic physicians; also determined was whether medical schools formally teach these kinds or offer other systematic writing instruction. Semiotically-based discourse theory, associated with J. L. Kinneavy and supplemented by current scientific/technological discourse theory, was used to analyze single, whole texts representative of the six major genres and selected by physicians. The analysis, informed, and later critiqued, by the authors, considered a text's cultural and situational contexts and its pragmatics, semantics, and syntactics (i.e., discourse aim, logic, organization, and style). Context included: a genre's history, definition, and cultural influences; specific author (s), audience, medium, and medical situation.

Over 40 genres were identified. According to the 100 responding medical schools, the six most important genres for particular writer categories were: case write-up (medical student); discharge summary (house officer); consultation letter and case report (private practitioner); published report of original research and grant proposal (academic physician). Few schools formally taught these genres or offered other systematic writing instruction. Discourse analysis, supported by the authors, revealed context, then purpose, to be the key shaping influences on the texts. As subtypes of referential discourse, texts with different purposes exhibited different logics, organizational patterns, and styles.

The major genres are diverse, complex rhetorical constructs that should be systematically taught to physicians and trainees. Semiotically-based discourse theory provides a useful framework for analysis of representative texts although informants are needed to supply important contextual information. This study suggests that nonfiction genres, such as those analyzed, be included in genre study and supports current views emphasizing discourse context and purpose. In demonstrating a humanistic method of understanding scientific/technological discourses, the study has relevance for writing-across-the-curriculum programs and for medical/technical writing research and teaching.

Notes:

Thesis (Ph.D. in English)--Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, University of Pennsylvania, 1988.

Includes bibliography.

Local Notes:

University Microfilms order no.: 88-24810.

OCLC:

82658564