SCIENCES

What Doctors Feel: How Emotions Affect the Practice of Medicine

by Danielle Ofri
Beacon. Jun. 2013. 240p. notes. index. ISBN 9780807073322. $24.95; ebk. ISBN 9780807073339. MED
COPY ISBN
With grace, courage, humility, and compassion, Bellevue Hospital physician Ofri (cofounder, Bellevue Literary Review; Singular Intimacies: Becoming a Doctor at Bellevue) gives voice and color to the heartbreak, stress, and joy that attends medical practice. New York-based Ofri notes that medicine is about far more then science and that a physician's vision can be sharpened or misled by emotional reactions to patients. In particular, she follows the case of a long-term patient, Julia, exploring the twists and turns of her care and how she impacted Ofri's mind and heart. While this book's best feature is its raw emotional storytelling, it also addresses the academic literature on emotions and medical decision-making without overpowering Ofri's prose or interrupting her momentum.
VERDICT A moving and informative read that will appeal to both general readers of books such as Jerome Groopman's How Doctors Think or Richard Selzer's Letters to A Young Doctor and to medical students and practicing physicians.
Reviewed by Aaron Klink, Duke Univ., Durham, NC , Jun 15, 2013
Comment Policy:
  • Be respectful, and do not attack the author, people mentioned in the article, or other commenters. Take on the idea, not the messenger.
  • Don't use obscene, profane, or vulgar language.
  • Stay on point. Comments that stray from the topic at hand may be deleted.
  • Comments may be republished in print, online, or other forms of media.
  • If you see something objectionable, please let us know. Once a comment has been flagged, a staff member will investigate.

RELATED 

NONFICTION

Putin and the Return of History: How the Kremlin Rekindled the Cold War
by Sixsmith, Martin
NONFICTION

Belonging Without Othering: How We Save Ourselves and the World
by Powell, John A. & Stephen Menendian
NONFICTION

Trippy: The Peril and Promise of Medicinal Psychedelics
by Londoño, Ernesto
NONFICTION

1217: The Battles That Saved England
by Hanley, Catherine
NONFICTION

The War That Made America: Essays Inspired by the Scholarship of Gary W. Gallagher
NONFICTION

A Deeper South: The Beauty, Mystery, and Sorrow of the Southern Road
by Candler, Pete
More
ALREADY A SUBSCRIBER?

We are currently offering this content for free. Sign up now to activate your personal profile, where you can save articles for future viewing

ALREADY A SUBSCRIBER?