Here are a couple of books for your winter reading pleasure. How Doctors Think by Jerome Groopman offers insight into how doctors diagnose patients and what that means for patient care. Groopman says physicians should be careful not to match a patient's symptoms against their mental templates or clinical prototypes too quickly. Physicians need to take the time to really listen to their patients. Sometimes when you hear hooves, it is a zebra. The book is an interesting read for patients to understand that the clinical diagnosis process is not always straightforward, certain or even rational.
Today, I started reading The Soul of a Doctor - Harvard Medical Students Face Life and Death, edited by Susan Poires, Sachin H. Jain and Gordon Harper. It is a compelling first-hand account of medical students' first experiences in medicine. There is a great amount of reflection and many students admit a certain amount of naivete, but these students are able to eloquently articulate much of what is wrong with medicine and the patient-physician relationship. I just finished the series of essays on Communication and I look forward to continuing with the essays on Empathy, Easing Suffering and Loss, and Finding a Better Way.
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