USA
I just have to take a moment and share with all of you this wonderful book I picked up from the library a couple of weeks ago. I read it cover to cover and
felt really engaged the whole time. It's "How Doctors Think" by Jerome Groopman, M.D.
Groopman is a hematologist who has written essays for The New Yorker Magazine, amongst other publications. He's a brilliant man and a very engaging writer. After a few incidents that came up in his practice and in his mentoring of medical students, he decided to research the ways in which doctors come to decisions about their patients - how they make diagnoses, decide on the course of treatment, etc.
The greatest thing about this book is that not only is it incredibly engaging (with lots of interesting patient stories that made it hard for me to put the book down at times), but he ends up talking a lot, as a practicing doctor/specialist, about ways in which we, as patients, can help our doctors think more clearly and make better decisions by asking certain questions at certain times, recognizing when we're hitting a dead-end with certain doctors (he writes about research that shows that if you think a doctor dislikes you and doesn't take you seriously, you're probably right and should find another doctor immediately), etc.
I don't want to sound like a fanatic here (those of you who know me well will know I rarely get fanatical about doctors and books by doctors), but I really think everybody should grab a copy of this book from the local library and read it, and I really think people with chronic pain and chronic illnesses could benefit a lot from reading this book.
All the time here, we talk about our problems dealing with bad doctors and good doctors alike. I think this book is a great tool to have in our arsenal as we work with the medical establishment and the people who we see day-to-day in that medical establishment - the doctors.
Here's a link to "How Doctors Think" at Amazon, so you can read more about it, read reviews, etc.
Groopman is a hematologist who has written essays for The New Yorker Magazine, amongst other publications. He's a brilliant man and a very engaging writer. After a few incidents that came up in his practice and in his mentoring of medical students, he decided to research the ways in which doctors come to decisions about their patients - how they make diagnoses, decide on the course of treatment, etc.
The greatest thing about this book is that not only is it incredibly engaging (with lots of interesting patient stories that made it hard for me to put the book down at times), but he ends up talking a lot, as a practicing doctor/specialist, about ways in which we, as patients, can help our doctors think more clearly and make better decisions by asking certain questions at certain times, recognizing when we're hitting a dead-end with certain doctors (he writes about research that shows that if you think a doctor dislikes you and doesn't take you seriously, you're probably right and should find another doctor immediately), etc.
I don't want to sound like a fanatic here (those of you who know me well will know I rarely get fanatical about doctors and books by doctors), but I really think everybody should grab a copy of this book from the local library and read it, and I really think people with chronic pain and chronic illnesses could benefit a lot from reading this book.
All the time here, we talk about our problems dealing with bad doctors and good doctors alike. I think this book is a great tool to have in our arsenal as we work with the medical establishment and the people who we see day-to-day in that medical establishment - the doctors.
Here's a link to "How Doctors Think" at Amazon, so you can read more about it, read reviews, etc.
He did the radio circuit a while back - that's when I heard about him and the book on National Public Radio.
My G.P. is fine, as are his nurses, but the clerical staff in his office are just downright nasty sometimes. Wish I knew how to deal with
Mosken
Talk about frustrating... I'm so crabby
right now- I think steam could shoot from my ears.
