The Biopsychosocial Approach : University of Rochester Press : 9781580460613 : 1580460615 : 26 Jun 2003 : For thousands of years, Western culture has dichotomized science and art, empiricism and subjective experience, and biology and psychology. In contrast with the prevailing view in philosophy, neuroscience, and literary criticism,George Engel, an internist and practicing physician, published a paper in the journal Science in 1977 entitled "The Need for a New Medical Model: A Challenge for Biomedicine." In the context of clinical medicine, Engel madethe deceptively simple observation that actions at the biological, psychological, and social level are dynamically interrelated and that these relationships affect both the process and outcomes of care. The biopsychosocial perspective involves an appreciation that disease and illness do not manifest themselves only in terms of pathophysiology, but also may simultaneously affect many different levels of functioning, from cellular to organ