Beyond the silence of the body: medical anthropology and the healing vocation in rare diseases

This article examines rare diseases through a medical anthropology lens, exploring how undiagnosed conditions disrupt patients' sense of self and relationship with their bodies. Drawing on phenomenological concepts and Meghan O'Rourke's experiences, Scarafile argues that effective care requires physicians to recognize both biological symptoms and existential dimensions of suffering. The article emphasizes how diagnosis serves as an act of legitimation and calls for maintaining the healing vocation in medicine despite institutional pressures, ultimately advocating for an approach that treats patients as whole persons rather than mere clinical cases.