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alicedubery's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
sad
tense
fast-paced
4.0
tzd's review against another edition
4.0
A look into how emotions affect the practice of medicine. Filled with personal anecdotes, it is a personal account of the challenges of human medicine.
Quotes:
"It is much more important to know what sort of a patient has a disease than what sort of a disease a patient has."
Being a doctor means living with that fear, incorporating it into one's daily life. It is like stepping onto a moving carousel and feeling your stomach drop, Yet needing to continue forward despite the queasiness.
Being aware of our fear and figuring out how to titrate it appropriately is a vital skill for a doctor. Our patients' lives may depend on it.
"The final common pathway is the heart," John Stone wrote in his poem "Gaudeamus Igitur." "For what matters finally is how the Human spirit is spent."
The secret of the care of the patient is in caring for the patient.
Quotes:
"It is much more important to know what sort of a patient has a disease than what sort of a disease a patient has."
Being a doctor means living with that fear, incorporating it into one's daily life. It is like stepping onto a moving carousel and feeling your stomach drop, Yet needing to continue forward despite the queasiness.
Being aware of our fear and figuring out how to titrate it appropriately is a vital skill for a doctor. Our patients' lives may depend on it.
"The final common pathway is the heart," John Stone wrote in his poem "Gaudeamus Igitur." "For what matters finally is how the Human spirit is spent."
The secret of the care of the patient is in caring for the patient.
electralux's review against another edition
5.0
"The secret of caring of Patients is caring for patients"
This book touched me so deeply. An amazing read for anyone not only healthcare workers. Thank you so much! !
This book touched me so deeply. An amazing read for anyone not only healthcare workers. Thank you so much! !
swampy_sig's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
medium-paced
3.75
micahnow17's review against another edition
5.0
Important read for anyone in medicine as well as administrators. Even patients would benefit from reading about the humanity of doctors. It’s also a good read, not dry.
gijs's review against another edition
5.0
4,5 stars: Intimate stories in clinical medicine by a practicing internist; well written, revealing and told with the honesty and humanity that actual care for patients deserves; recommended.
sarahlopod's review against another edition
4.0
This review can also be found on my blog.
What Doctors Feel explores how doctors’ emotions impact both their own lives and the lives of their patients. This isn’t a non-fic where you’ll find yourself getting bored. Dr. Ofri writes conversationally and includes specific examples from her years as a doctor to get her point across. The only downside being that you’ll have to be someone who can stomach hearing about some less-than-pleasant things. I didn’t feel myself losing interest at any point while reading, and found this to be quite a compelling read. I was expecting there to be more of an academic focus, but Dr. Ofri relies fairly heavily on anecdotal storytelling. Make no mistake: she always specifies whether her assertions can be backed up by solid research or whether they are yet unexplored hypotheses. This combination helps the reader learn while also being able to tie everything discussed to real-life situations.
High empathy scores predict which students will excel in their clinical clerkships, who will be nominated by their peers for exemplary professionalism, and who will be ranked as highly empathic by residency program directors and by patients themselves.
One thing I found quite fascinating was the differences medical students can experience during their third year of med school. This is the time students spend in clinic, following interns and residents around while learning all they can. This third year can be a roll of the dice and make or break the student’s education as well as influence their path moving forward. Medical students also adjust to the humor used by physicians and in doing so can begin using phrases that phase out empathy -- by making jokes about drug addicts, for instance, instead of empathizing with their difficulties. Indeed, there is a documented decline in empathy at this point in a medical student’s education. While Dr. Ofri is clear to caution that these results are preliminary, studies have shown that patients of doctors with higher empathy scores experience things like better medication compliance, higher quality of life, and even less severe colds.
When continuing into residency, Dr. Ofri shares how there is little to no time for clinicians to process emotional situations. She shares specific instances of doctors who witnessed traumatic deaths without so much as blinking, only to break down later on in the throes of PTSD. Additionally, doctors are driven to strive for perfection. It makes sense after all, patients can die from mistakes. But there is often a dichotomy perceived: either you are a perfect doctor or you are a failure, no grey areas allowed. In the medical field, it is difficult to learn from one’s mistakes without feeling an overwhelming sense of shame and self-doubt -- and shame can prevent someone from coming forward to admit their mistake. Coming forward may be the right thing to do, but studies have also shown that acknowledging and discussing such errors leads to changes in clinicians’ behavior that prevent future mistakes.
Fear, like all emotions, is neither good nor bad; it is simply one of the normal states of being. Overwhelming fear can be incapacitating, as I learned during my first code. But appropriate fear, as I witnessed in my obstetrician, can be crucial for good medical care, especially during critical situations.
Overall, I really enjoyed this read and recommend it to anyone interested in the inner workings of the healthcare industry, particularly where the impact of emotions is concerned.
What Doctors Feel explores how doctors’ emotions impact both their own lives and the lives of their patients. This isn’t a non-fic where you’ll find yourself getting bored. Dr. Ofri writes conversationally and includes specific examples from her years as a doctor to get her point across. The only downside being that you’ll have to be someone who can stomach hearing about some less-than-pleasant things. I didn’t feel myself losing interest at any point while reading, and found this to be quite a compelling read. I was expecting there to be more of an academic focus, but Dr. Ofri relies fairly heavily on anecdotal storytelling. Make no mistake: she always specifies whether her assertions can be backed up by solid research or whether they are yet unexplored hypotheses. This combination helps the reader learn while also being able to tie everything discussed to real-life situations.
High empathy scores predict which students will excel in their clinical clerkships, who will be nominated by their peers for exemplary professionalism, and who will be ranked as highly empathic by residency program directors and by patients themselves.
One thing I found quite fascinating was the differences medical students can experience during their third year of med school. This is the time students spend in clinic, following interns and residents around while learning all they can. This third year can be a roll of the dice and make or break the student’s education as well as influence their path moving forward. Medical students also adjust to the humor used by physicians and in doing so can begin using phrases that phase out empathy -- by making jokes about drug addicts, for instance, instead of empathizing with their difficulties. Indeed, there is a documented decline in empathy at this point in a medical student’s education. While Dr. Ofri is clear to caution that these results are preliminary, studies have shown that patients of doctors with higher empathy scores experience things like better medication compliance, higher quality of life, and even less severe colds.
When continuing into residency, Dr. Ofri shares how there is little to no time for clinicians to process emotional situations. She shares specific instances of doctors who witnessed traumatic deaths without so much as blinking, only to break down later on in the throes of PTSD. Additionally, doctors are driven to strive for perfection. It makes sense after all, patients can die from mistakes. But there is often a dichotomy perceived: either you are a perfect doctor or you are a failure, no grey areas allowed. In the medical field, it is difficult to learn from one’s mistakes without feeling an overwhelming sense of shame and self-doubt -- and shame can prevent someone from coming forward to admit their mistake. Coming forward may be the right thing to do, but studies have also shown that acknowledging and discussing such errors leads to changes in clinicians’ behavior that prevent future mistakes.
Fear, like all emotions, is neither good nor bad; it is simply one of the normal states of being. Overwhelming fear can be incapacitating, as I learned during my first code. But appropriate fear, as I witnessed in my obstetrician, can be crucial for good medical care, especially during critical situations.
Overall, I really enjoyed this read and recommend it to anyone interested in the inner workings of the healthcare industry, particularly where the impact of emotions is concerned.
amber_lea84's review against another edition
5.0
I read this book to try to understand some of the interactions I've had with doctors and why they went the way they did. I wanted to have more empathy for why doctors sometimes seem a bit moody or erratic and to understand why I sometimes feel like I can't win no matter what I do. Basically, I wanted to know if there was something I could do differently, or some way I could read the situation differently to get better results.
I think this book is a must read for anyone with a chronic illness or who for any reason has to deal with doctors on a regular basis. I feel like this book did a lot to help me understand what it's like to be a doctor, which has definitely helped me understand how to better interact with doctors. While we all know that doctors are busy people who often have an inhuman amount of work to do, I feel like this book gave me a much clearer picture of what they go through every day. I feel better able to deal with doctors who seem frustrated because I see them as people who maybe need my help and not adversaries who are upset with me in particular. I definitely feel empowered to have more meaningful interactions with doctors after reading this book.
I think this book is a must read for anyone with a chronic illness or who for any reason has to deal with doctors on a regular basis. I feel like this book did a lot to help me understand what it's like to be a doctor, which has definitely helped me understand how to better interact with doctors. While we all know that doctors are busy people who often have an inhuman amount of work to do, I feel like this book gave me a much clearer picture of what they go through every day. I feel better able to deal with doctors who seem frustrated because I see them as people who maybe need my help and not adversaries who are upset with me in particular. I definitely feel empowered to have more meaningful interactions with doctors after reading this book.