Cure definition and meaning:
A cure is a remedy intended to restore health or well-being. For example, a patient may receive treatment for a disease like cancer or hepatitis. If the doctor is confident that the patient will recover, he may say that the patient is cured of the disease. In other diseases, such as diabetes or high blood pressure, the intent of treatment is often to manage or control the condition rather than to cure it.
Similarly, oncologists may hesitate to use the word cure with their patients, especially when the diagnosis is a life-threatening cancer. Some clinicians may also avoid using the term cured in a patient who has been in remission for years or even decades, because of their concern that the patient is not truly cured.
We conducted a pilot study to assess oncologists’ and patients’ attitudes toward the usage of the word cure in clinical practice. A survey was distributed to oncology clinicians from a major academic medical center. Participants were asked to rate their comfort with using the terms cure, curative intent, in remission, or no evidence of disease. Results indicated that clinicians were hesitant to use the term cure and were uncomfortable with the term in the context of cancer treatment, whereas many patients believed themselves to be cured or that they would eventually be cured.
The chapter provides examples of converting traditional lab courses into CUREs and discusses some of the benefits for students and faculty who participate in CUREs. These benefits include increased communication skills, student engagement in the scientific process, and learning gains on objective tests of content knowledge.