Reminds us of the struggles of a physician
351163
The Real Doctor Will See You Shortly: A Physicians First Year by Matt McCarthy chronicles McCarthys intern year in the hospital. The book gives an inside view into a new doctors experiences and insight. The book is funny, interesting, and informative. It shows us the struggles of being a physician, and it reminds us of the scary elements of being a doctor, such as when McCarthy is accidentally pricked by a needle infected by HIV. The book also demonstrates the limitations that physicians have; they often must try to save lives in less than ideal circumstances, and they sometimes do not know the correct course of actions to take. Perhaps this book reminds us that knowing a lot means knowing what you don't know.

*I received this book for review*
2663785
Doctors are trained to see things differently: to fix, to heal, to prevent, to listen, to guide, to solve.  Amidst the successes of every doctor- in fact, despite and in conjunction with their successes the author would argue- are many uncertainties, inconsistencies, and mistakes that come with being human.  The author puts himself in such a vulnerable position, making this book what I think is very brave, very real, very intimate, but also scary enough to make any public relations consultant cringe.

Having worked in the healthcare industry, I could relate easily to the author's stories. Even those without a background in science/healthcare would be able to easily appreciate these stories- they are very interesting and well written, and no medical knowledge is required (though those with it will have a deeper understanding).  The only thing I wished for when I started reading was better referencing of research material and scientific articles throughout the book.  Upon finishing the book I can see why it was written in this way- it reads more like a collection of short stories. Keeping all references and citations at the end keeps the book less cluttered and less intimidating.

Medicine is science, it is healthcare, it is politics.  This book is an important glimpse at medicine through the eyes of one surgical resident and his experiences with patients, families, and colleagues.  How he found time to have a family, pursue writing a book, write news columns, go through surgical residency/practice medicine practically all at once is beyond me.  Maybe he will share his secrets in his next book.  Until then, check this one out.  You won't look at your doctor the same again, or at least you will hopefully ask more questions.  Get a second opinion if think you need one, be a good patient, have patience, and remain in awe at the wonders that our doctors do on a daily basis.
1757442
We are fascinated with the lives of physicians. This is a privileged role they play; one only a few can play. Henry Marsh provides us with two perspectives of his role as a neurosurgeon. His story is that of a soon to be retired neurosurgeon, full of realistic, tangible concerns about his current stage of life, and its place in his passionate profession. His acquired, accidental wisdom (do we ever know it is happening..this thing called wisdom) looks back at earlier, youthful times to find that he, like all of us, fumbled along making decisions and choices based on so little understanding of life and consequence. This story of the life of a man, and a neurosurgeon, is a rich one. Dr Marsh shares perspectives of the aging man, reflecting on life now, and life as lived in the past.
4149238
As a person with an ill-defined, unresolved health problem for the last 36 years, I deeply sympathized with the nightmare Paco and his family endured.  I also appreciated the candor from this physician/author who dares to critique his own profession.  The healthcare system, medical schools, insurance industry, and way too many practitioners should admit and confront their weaknesses and their many moments of inhumanity.  It takes a very fine person indeed to be a good physician.  We expect a great deal from physicians - pain and dysfunction leave us all helpless in our layman's world.  The entire system and all who function within it should care about what they do in their work.  Dr. Lenhart is obviously a physician who cares, and cares enough to write this story as well.  My only criticism would be that I did not see the extent of physician arrogance in the book that I have experienced in real life.  Thank you for writing this book.
1509603
Ms. Miller tells a harrowing tale of growing up with parents who are crippled with the mental disorder of hoarding.  The hopelessness of this disease is frustrating, as she takes the reader through the often horrifying results of her parents' actions.  The book is a little hard to continue in places, as there seems to be no resolution to their problem, and as she is worn down by it, so are we.  But, these are well-meaning people, so in the end, we ultimately root for their survival and healing.
710042
I am a medical profession, and it is sometimes difficult to view the disease process through the patient's eyes.  Thanks
3479033
When you have a loved one that is suffering, frustration is a given.  It's brave of this gentleman to share his journey.
He did a very good job of sharing the ups, downs, and mostly the downs that are associated with our loved ones lack of insight into their disease.  I wish Tim Salmon and his son the best.  They have courage.  I pray they will continue to find stamina.
399747
For a long time I have been upset and concerned about America's health care. Dr. Brawley's book justified my concern. In our society doctors are considered demi-gods with the power of life and death. People blindly believe anything their doctor says and often they die as a result. Brawley shows the sharp difference between medical treatment for the wealthy and middle class as opposed to the care of the poor. But even the wealthy need to beware.

Medicine has become so complex and intricate and detailed, often the average person does not really grasp what their doctor is saying or the implications for their future comfort and recovery. There is the jargon of "medicalese" that the patient may not understanad, but because the doctor is highly educated, they respect him and go along with what is offered. In our day and age one needs to look out for themselves when dealing with doctors and make it a priority to do research and thoroughly understand their disease.

Dr Brawley, speaks out about what goes on behind the scenes in the medical world and the peek around the curtain can be shocking. He gives examples of cases that were clearly not handled properly and how some doctors put their own interest before the best interest of the patient.

On the other side of the coin, the doctors often have families and individuals that ask for unneeded medications and procedures because they have seen them advertisied in the media, like the woman who insisted on chemo, even though the doctors knew it would not help her. She could not be talked out of it and finally died from the chemo that she requested.

I enjoyed reading Brawley's personal history, that of a child in a gang ridden neighbourhood of Detroit that worked hard and became one of America's foremost doctors. It is also refreshing to hear of someone who came from a poor background and grew up to live the American Dream. His analysis of America's health care system is brutal, but necessary. We all need our eyes opened about the state of the system and work together to improve it. -- Valerie Lull, Ten Healtlhy Teas
2492944
Well written account, must read for all medical students and residents, being a patient when you are a physician is difficult and just as scary.
2978957
After witnessing the painful treatment and deaths of my in-laws recently, I was most interested in the author's account of her unbearable pain when her face was infected, and the problem she had in obtaining relief.  She was a doctor herself and the staff knew her--yet she still had to beg for hours for relief.  When will the medical profession treat pain adequately?  I am disappointed that after enduring so much pain that she does not recognize this need.  Overall, her courage is admirable, and we need more doctors who have endured chronic illness to write accounts that enlighten the general public.
262098
Accurate description of what physicians experience caring for their patients. Most of us just want to serve and make things better for our patients. Some of us even understand what it is like to be a patient. Unfortunately we live in a country with a broken healthcare system and to find a physician like Dr. Ofri is rare. It is refreshing to feel her care and compassion in the pages of this book.
You may recognize the same review I gave Ofri's "Medicine in Translation: Journeys with My Patients". There is a reason for that. I recommend reading all of her books. She is a special physician, person, author.
666798
As a health care professional, I would recommend this book to all person's working in medicine.  I feel that as professionals, we need to stay connected to the spiritual realm and those unexplained moments and feelings we encounter caring for others.  It seems that we get this idea of hope beaten out of us or we willingly let HOPE go which vicariously affects our patients.
2754489
For those readers who, like myself, have to attend the doctor on a regular basis for checkups, or even for those who try to avoid anything medical until an emergency strikes, there is one thing that we would really like to know--how to communicate with our doctors better, so that we can maximize the benefits to be gained from our relatively short time with them. Patients tend to range between being absolutely pernickety, and attempting to get all their health problems for the last decade thoroughly analyzed within a 15-minute, begrudgingly-paid for appointment, and being just so scared of medical quackery that they can't wait to skedaddle out the door with the latest prescription clutched in their sweaty little palms. This I have gathered from my own experience, varying from that with tiresome, querulous elderly aunts to my neighbor's somewhat dyspeptic vision of an overnight stay in a hospital as being the last pit stop on earth on the headlong tumble into the pit that burns everlasting beneath us all. In short, I don't believe, by any stroke of the imagination, that doctors tend to have it all their own way, and are out to `get ya' more than you are ready and prepared to `get th'm'.

The above said, Dr. Larry Gold's book is a humorous, but informed take, on the nitty gritty of the doctor--patient relationship, based on his extensive experience in the medical field, which has spanned decades of working as a physician both in private office and in hospital-based practice, as well as of serving as chief of a large department of internal medicine and family practice. Regarding good communication as the cornerstone of medicine, Dr. Gold explores the essence of such through numerous scenarios, fictional and not, in a way that brings his message alive in a way that is totally apposite to his subject. In a thoroughly humane and cogent way, he explores topics like how to handle tough, but essential questions and questioning; issues of medical malpractice; matching patient and physician; medical problems that physicians dislike (but which they, nevertheless, have to deal with); and finding a physician. His text is enlivened with a number of cartoons by Theresa Mccracken that help to bring the message home, and which make what he has to say all the more memorable.

In addition to the main text, Dr. Gold complements his central tenet with an introduction to, and glossary of, medical terminology and specialists, as well as providing valuable guidelines on how to find answers online to your most pressing questions (with several helpful URLs thrown in). Rounding off his overview of how to get the most out of the doctor--patient relationship, he gives brief, and extremely handy, pointers on how to make the right decisions when an emergency is staring you in the face (and no, he doesn't suggest that you roll over and play dead).

You would do well to keep Dr. Gold's witty and trenchant guide to physician--patient communication in your medical cabinet, but only after having chuckled along with it for a half hour of reading beforehand. There are plenty of home truths in this wise guide that belie its brevity--don't take it for granted that you know it all, because you don't. I know where my copy is going--onto the hall table, so that the next time my neighbor calls, it will be ready and waiting...
3940869
Interesting read but I feel like it contains a lot of generalities. Coming from someone who was in one of the pain programs mentioned in the book, I would say that my experience differed. It is very true that doctors are pushing prescriptions and there are underlying financial reasons, but there are other methods of treatment that are available like physical therapy, surgery, education, and prescriptions with no potential for abuse that are being offered. So there were some areas that I would like to argue. That's fine with me because a good book will stir thought and provoke discussion like this does. At any rate I did enjoy hearing what the author had to say and seeing the other side of things from her view. There were a lot of things I learned that I didn't know before.

Without harping too much on specifics or getting off subject, I would have to argue though that this view is somewhat skewed. It does give a more frightening view of a big picture but I take it with a grain of salt because when doctors have pushed pills on me when I didn't need them they were just fine with me refusing, and when I truly need help with my condition I have been refused. It takes two to tango in this case; the book is really focused to those "pill shoppers" and "pill pushers". It is not indicative of all doctors and it can be frustrating for people like me to read that other people can get a pile of pills instantly while I wait over a year waiting list for physical therapy because I'm interested in my health not pills. So there are two sides to every story, or make that three or four or five when all the patients, doctors, insurance, etc. are involved.
2160750
This is a frankly written story of the agony of not only one woman, but many not recorded,  Chemo therapy and radiation are horrid enough with all the side effects, but the hope and promise of full recovery keeps these ladies going.  When the author discovers to her dismay
and embarrassment that full recovery is not happening, she feels betrayed and is angry, extremely angry.  This is her story of all the
research and the discovery she was lied to and told her situation was extremely rare; however, she learns there are dozens if not hundreds
of women suffering as she.  The stress of filing complaints, the committees she meets, the evasion she encounters from trusted consultants takes its toll.  She is a brave and gutsy lady and the support group she establishes helps others.  A crisp critical look at the world of the
cancer survivors.  A book not for the faint hearted, but one I strongly recommend not only for cancer patients, but their families also.
3670569
This title is a rather interesting account of the health care system. At times I had a hard time remembering that it was a novel because much of the story seemed to be a page out of real life. Some of the situations that the main character, Anna, found herself in were similar to other things I have heard about. The major plotline that involves Dr. Quaile and the other major theme with Annas husband Paul intertwines well to show the reader so many different aspects of being a doctor or a medical professional, and all the ugly things that may come with it. As someone that has seen both good and bad in the medical industry, I appreciated that Anna stood up for a doctor she knew was good and honest. Check this one out if you like fiction stories with a message or books that may relate to your life.
4326425
In his new memoir, Something for the Pain: One Doctor's Account of Life and Death in the ER, Paul Austin takes a clear-eyed look at the profession he has chosen---that of a doctor in a metropolitan Emergency Room, who frequently works what other (less superstitious) professionals might term "the Graveyard Shift."

Within the covers of this thoughtful and moving debut, Austin graciously allows us an insider's look at the struggles and rewards of his job, as well as the toll it can take on a growing family, especially when the detrimental effects of persistent sleep-deprivation fray nerves and breed frustration. (When the author finds an innovative way around these struggles, we silently cheer for his ingenuity and for the sake of his patient, empathetic wife, herself a former nurse.)

Unlike many of our nation's first responders (and ER doctors are definitely first responders), Austin and his ilk often don't get the respect that a fireman (which Austin has also been) or a paramedic might, and they certainly don't receive the full measure of respect they're due. (Have you ever tried staying up all night, on constant alert, dealing with bleeding, vomiting, angry people---many of them drunk and violent---or patients with chest pains and grisly car crash wounds that need immediate attention and split-second medical decisions? All this, while frequent understaffing creates delays that in turn create patients so angry that once they are finally seen it can complicate the process of diagnosis? ...I thought not.)

With equal measures of honesty and empathy, Paul Austin has created a timeless memoir that deserves a wide readership. As Richard Selzer's "Letters to a Young Doctor" helped to open the public's eyes to the general practitioner, so can "Something for the Pain" give us important insights into the working conditions for an ER physician. I do know that without a doubt, the next time I visit an ER, no matter my circumstances, I plan to extend a measure of empathy to the doctor on duty and not just expect it. And I plan to be thoroughly grateful--and definitely sober.