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Groopman has nailed it, he knows doctors PERIOD. It will get you into a comfort zone when discussing your issues with your doctor.
the book is all about how doctors think when confronted with a medical condition, how they make decisions, how they decide which medication they prescribe (kick back from pharmaceutical companies shhhh). In summary Doctors are human beings and sometimes don't live up to how people perceive them (angles) and make mistakes that destroy (kill) people.
This book confirmed my suspicion. I think everybody should read this book.
We sometimes feel uncomfortable to question a doctors opinion. I know some people are afraid to ask for their medical files from their doctor because they don't want to hurt their feelings.
I have experienced almost every chapter in this book and I can attest that Dr. It will protect you from falling prey to their errors.
Groopman's honesty and openness, as he discloses some of the grossly inadequate approaches to medical care that patients encounter every day. Dr. He provides concrete ideas for patients regarding how they can respond when they are faced with an arrogant medical practitioner who is not leading them toward solutions that could save the life or restore the health of their loved-one.I went on to read Dr. Groopman is an excellent writer, who makes use of case examples, both from his own practice and his own personal family experience, to demonstrate what is both good and bad in medical care. The reader will, no doubt, be left with new insight and new skills with which to better advocate for themselves and their loved-ones, when they are faced with complex medical problems, and they are in pursuit of an accurate diagnosis and effective treatment.As a psychotherapist who sees chronically ill patients and their families (most of my clients have severe, chronic Lyme disease), I appreciated Dr. Groopman's other books, and enjoyed and appreciated every one. He also brings in a spiritual dimension, in a way that can be interpreted by people of different faiths, or outlooks on life.Sandy Berenbaum, LCSW, BCD - Southbury, CT
This books explains in detail the kinds of cognitive errors doctors can and do make, some of which are part of medical training trends nowadays. The book is written by a doctor whose honesty is refreshing, and it could save your life some day. It provides patients and their families with the questions that will enable them to prevent or reverse these errors in judgment and patterns of thinking when they communicate with their doctors. The text de-mythologizes the undeniably important technological advances in medicine and shows why some of them create often as many problems as they solve. This is especially true if you or a family member is very ill, since doctors tend to be unaware of their own prejudices and dislikes--and as studies have shown, doctors very often dislike the very ill. I recommend this book unreservedly.
If the patient does not improve, the physician then modifies his diagnosis to a different one, and changes the treatment accordingly. The continual re-evaluation of a single diagnosis when a patient does not respond to the treatment is consuming.There are several different specialties within the medical field that have caught my attention-oncology and obstretrics and gynecology.I learned that I may want to become an Oncologist. This book proves that medicine is not an exact science even though we know much more than we did even five years ago. Personal OpinionI would recommend this book to my classmates. I realize that these two specialties are very different.
The fact that the physicians often made several diagnoses before arriving at the correct one establishes that both the physician and the patient need to remain patient when encountering a unusual set of symptoms.Critical OpinionThe medical information given in this book is up to date and as far as I can tell, in my non-medical opinion, accurate. I agree with the author's opinion that when physicians make hasty decisions in order to make their patients feel better more quickly, it often results in erroneous diagnoses. I think that I would enjoy the special rewards in treating a patient and changing their life. Once again, the physician has to wait and watch to ensure that the symptoms are decreasing or subsiding. Some strains of the bacteria are resistant to strong antibiotics.14- Adriamycin- a chemotherapy drug that is used to treat bladder, breast, head, neck cancer and leukemia15- 5-Azacytidine- demonstrated to have a wide range of anti-metabolic activities when tested against cultured cancer cells and to be an effective chemotherapeutic agent for acute myelogenous leukemia. Once I am in medical school, my perceptions may change completely, and I may pursue a completely different specialty.
It also showed me how doctor-patient relationships are developed. I also discovered that while medicine can be rewarding in it's own right, it can also be incredibly frustrating. He explains that doctors diagnose because of perception, past experiences, and communication. IntroductionI choose the book "How Doctors Think" because I wanted to see how doctors thought and how their decisions are influenced. Some sudden diagnoses are correct and the patients go on living; however others are incorrect and put patients in critical positions.Each chapter details a different patient presenting different symptoms, causing the physician and the readers to hazard guesses as to the particular disease state that the patient is experiencing. Usually used before a mechanical ventilator is used.6- Menopause- the time in a woman's life when menstruation diminishes and ceases, usually between the ages of 45 and 507- Obstetrics- the branch of medicine that deals with the care of women during pregnancy and childbirth, and for some six weeks following delivery8- Atherosclerosis- a common arterial disease in which raised areas of degeneration and cholesterol deposits form on the inner surfaces of the arteries.9- Gestalt- a set of elements such as a person's thoughts and experiences considered as a whole and regarded as amounting to more than the sum of its parts10- Chondrocalcinosis- a rheumatologic disorder with varied clinical manifestations due to precipitation of calcium pyrophosphate dihydrate crystals in the connective tissues11- Hematologist- a branch of medicine that deals with the study of blood, blood-forming organs and blood diseases.12- Synovium- a thin layer of tissue that lines the joint space.13- Staph- It is a type of infection caused by a Staphylococcus bacterium. The other specialty that I find interesting is obstretrics and gynecology. Oncology seems like a challenging specialty.
I did not have my mind made up about this different specialty until I read about oncology in this book. As I read the book, my perceptions about oncology changed. The information that is not medical is also current. He expands on the crucial moments where the doctors make snap decisions and sometimes misdiagnose the patient.
Unfortunately, much of the practice of medicine is inexact, and certainly not always glamorous. Doctors encounter many pre-diagnoses before they narrow down to one the diagnosis that best fits the patient's symptoms.DescriptionIn "How Doctors Think", Jerome details how doctors diagnose patients. Technically speaking, life-changing events would occur when treatment is successful. The book was interesting to read because it allowed me a glimpse of how doctors think and how they are led to the diagnosis of the patient.
However, because of 5-azacytidine's general toxicity, other nucleoside analogs were favored as therapeutics. He also told me that most of the time, an OB-Gyn physician treats healthy patients. This book is a non-fictional novel detailing events doctor and patients experience. He loved delivering babies best, as he found the miracle of birth most intriguing. My grandfather is a retired OB-Gyn physician. The author showed me that oncology treatments can save patient's lives and cancer is not always a death sentence.I would certainly recommend this book. I initially thought that oncology would be very sad and depressing, but my ideas were changed while reading the book. Sometimes television glamorizes the medical field and the roles of doctors, nurses, and other health care workers.
Once the diagnosis has been chosen, the treatment is initiated, and the physician then watches the patient to see if the patient improves. Each doctor's specialty seems rewarding, but each are different and some are not really of interest to me. Doctors often see many patients during their day, and do not always have the luxury of taking a long time to make a diagnosis on each patient.Personal Vocabulary1- Atrium- central hall with glass roof; open central courtyard; cavity or chamber in the body2- Ventricle- Two lower chambers of the heart; any four interconnected cavities in the brain; small cavity or chamber in the body3- Xiphoid- a small cartilaginous extension to the lower part of the sternum, which is usually ossified in the adult human4- Bolus- a dose of a drug given quickly by intravenous injection; a very large pill; a soft round ball, usually chewed food5- Ambu- a bag valve mask that is used to help a patient's breathing. The finding that 5-azacytidine was incorporated into DNA and that, when present in DNA, it inhibited DNA methylation.Personal ReflectionI learned that a doctor's work is harder than it seems in providing care to patients. Both will be rewarding in their own way. I like the mystery of medicine, and this book engaged my interest in medicine to a greater degree.
Jerome Groopman does a great job in describing his experiences with medicene in his early years, till now. This book isn't only for students going into a medical field, and medical workers, but anyone who has been to a doctors office and wanting to learn more about their practices. He shows us how many doctors go through a thought process with each patient and how this repetitive process can lead to miss diagnosing. We get a true feeling of what it's like being a doctor and what they go through on a daily basis. I must admit though it is filled with many medical terms and situations which can be confusing if you aren't familiar with them. But overall it's an interesting book worth the read.
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