Doctor

This little gem should be required reading included in all medical schools as a reference for lessons in empathy for first- and last-year medical students, and for anyone who watches and is wary of the changes that are taking place in healthcare. Written as short, anecdotal essays by a physician who is surrounded by doctors. His father is a renowned pediatrician, his brother an orthopedic surgeon, his wife also a physician, and, as he lovingly relates, his three-year-old bilingual daughter already sports a stethoscope as she plays doctor. In trying to describe the medical professional, the author finds no similarity with the charismatic media-painted sexy medics, chafes at the insurance companies, and worries about patient families misconstruing the practitioners’ role when a life cannot be saved. He sharply contrasts the paternal relationship that existed between doctor and patient in past generations with the current technologically programmed assembly-line course now imposed. He wrestles with the dilemma of which words to use with a dire prognosis, but he comments that without a cure…the best medicine is to openly communicate with the patient. Occasionally, the patient just being able to speak with a doctor becomes the placebo, an immeasurable benefit.