3 Must-Read Medical Books & Memoirs
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Physicians, medical students, patients, nurses, hospital administrators, and pharmaceutical executives will benefit from these compelling books.
I endured a surgical error I should not have survived. I suffered medication errors. When I took control of my eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE)— a rare autoimmune disease of the esophagus — I healed myself. I created my own diet. Three gastroenterologists did not figure it out. After suffering with EoE for twenty-six years, I discovered the causes of my EoE.
The following three books resonated with me as a patient. These books, written by physicians, are part memoir, part research-based, and reader friendly.
I discovered these three physicians on podcast interviews discussing their books and their experiences as physicians and patients. I read their books and you should too.
How Medicine Works and When It Doesn’t: Learning Who to Trust to Get and Stay Healthy (Grand Central Publishing, 2023).
If you are a doctor, a hospital administrator, a pharmaceutical executive, or a patient, F. Perry Wilson’s new book — How Medicine Works and When It Doesn’t: Learning Who to Trust to Get and Stay Healthy — is a must-read. Dr. Wilson, a physician and researcher at Yale New Haven Hospital, writes that his book “shines a light on why doctors have lost touch with their patients, why patients have lost faith in their doctors, and how to get back to that therapeutic alliance that we all need in order to be truly healthy.”
Wilson provides insight into the various elements that have failed to focus on patient care. These include medical research fraud and hospitals employing ten administrators for every one doctor instead of focusing on patient care. Physician burnout, as a result of dealing with insurance companies and sitting in front of the computer to complete useless training modules, like how to best walk in a hospital hallway, do not contribute to patient care.
Wilson also makes clear the harmful role of the self-interested pharmaceutical companies, whose “goal of helping people is in the service of the goal of helping themselves and their stockholders.” Ever wonder if your doctor is influenced by pharmaceutical companies? Log onto OpenPaymentsData.CMS.gov/Search to see how much your…
