ABSTRACT

This book examines the phenomenon of physician-authors. Focusing on the books that contemporary doctors write--the stories that they tell--with contributors critically engaging their work.

A selection of original chapters from leading scholars in medical and health humanities analyze the literary output of doctors, including Oliver Sacks, Danielle Ofri, Atul Gawande, Louise Aronson, Siddhartha Mukherjee, and Abraham Verghese. Discussing issues of moral meaning in the works of contemporary doctor-writers, from memoir to poetry, this collection reflects some of the diversity of medicine today.

A key reference for all students and scholars of medical and health humanities, the book will be especially useful for those interested in the relationship between literature and practising medicine.

chapter |18 pages

Introduction

part I|34 pages

Two traditional representatives

chapter 1|15 pages

Richard Selzer

Three troubling tales of physicians' peculiar behavior

chapter 2|17 pages

Oliver Sacks

A kind of reminiscence

part II|42 pages

Three contemporary favorites

chapter 3|9 pages

Perri Klass

Books are like stethoscopes

chapter 4|16 pages

Abraham Verghese

The power of storytelling

chapter 5|15 pages

Atul Gawande

Doctoring, dying, and the pursuit of “Better”

part III|104 pages

Medicine, meaning, and identity

chapter 6|17 pages

Danielle Ofri

Offering lessons for all

chapter 7|17 pages

Paul Kalanithi

Sometimes, they break—craft as a window

chapter 8|15 pages

Joanna Cannon

Leaving medicine to pursue a physician's calling

chapter 9|12 pages

Damon Tweedy

Stories on being Black, sick, and marginalized

chapter 10|14 pages

Fady Joudah

An exploration of borders and boundaries

chapter 11|14 pages

Louise Aronson

Using facts and stories to improve medical care for older adults

chapter 12|13 pages

Marc Agronin

Into the heart of growing old

part IV|58 pages

Alternative models

chapter 13|19 pages

David Watts and Frank Huyler

A tale of two patients

chapter 14|21 pages

Tending and extending

The long and short of Siddhartha Mukherjee

chapter 15|16 pages

Arthur Kleinman

Professional caregiving narratives become personal