From Chekhov to Maugham to William Carlos Williams, doctors have long given voice to their unique perspectives through literature. Writer, M.D. celebrates this rich tradition with a collection of fiction and nonfiction by today’s most beloved physician-writers, including, • Abraham Verghese, on the lost art of the physical exam • Pauline Chen, on the bond between a med student and her first cadaver • Atul Gawande, on the ethical dilemmas of a young surgical intern • Danielle Ofri, on the devastation of losing a patient • Ethan Canin, on love, poetry, and growing old These essays and stories illuminate the inner lives of men and women who deal with trauma, illness, mortality, and grief on a daily basis. Read together, they provide a candid, moving, one-of-a-kind glimpse behind the doctor’s mask.
‘This is a book for doctors and patients – that is, the lot of us – to relish.’ – Thomas Keneally It is through writing that many doctors have plumbed the depths and richness of their experiences and, in turn, used this to explore their patients’ inner lives. Differential Diagnosis is a unique collection of fiction and non-fiction by doctor–writers that gives us a fascinating look behind the doctor’s mask, and gets inside the minds of those who deal with enormous existential issues and traumatic situations on a daily basis. These stories canvass emotional experiences acutely felt by doctors: an awareness of our mortality, of how humanity interplays with medicine, of the weight of responsibility carried by the profession. They bring into sharp focus, in many cases, the point of view of the patient, illuminating the experience of grief, trauma, illness, and ageing that doctors witness through their work. Contributors: Ethan Canin, Nick Earls, Atul Gawande, Peter Goldsworthy, Jacinta Halloran, Sandeep Jauhar, Leah Kaminsky, Perri Klass, Robert Jay Lifton, John Murray, Danielle Ofri, Oliver Sacks, Abraham Verghese, Gabriel Weston, Irvin Yalom
From Chekhov to Maugham to William Carlos Williams, doctors have long given voice to their unique perspectives through literature. Writer, M.D. celebrates this rich tradition with a collection of fiction and nonfiction by today’s most beloved physician-writers, including, • Abraham Verghese, on the lost art of the physical exam • Pauline Chen, on the bond between a med student and her first cadaver • Atul Gawande, on the ethical dilemmas of a young surgical intern • Danielle Ofri, on the devastation of losing a patient • Ethan Canin, on love, poetry, and growing old These essays and stories illuminate the inner lives of men and women who deal with trauma, illness, mortality, and grief on a daily basis. Read together, they provide a candid, moving, one-of-a-kind glimpse behind the doctor’s mask.
The first edition of this book (titled “The Clinician’s Guide to Medical Writing”) has become a standard in its field and remains an indispensible reference for any clinician, academic physician, or health professional who wishes to hone their writing skills. However, since its publication in 2004, significant changes have taken place in the way medical professionals communicate with each other and the world. Medical Writing: A Guide for Clinicians and Academicians, 2e retains all of the fundamental writing advice of the first edition and has been expanded to include two brand new chapters: How to Write a Research Protocol (including why a research project needs a written protocol, elements of the research protocol and common problems) How to Write a Grant Proposal (including sections on government and private grant funding sources, what you need to know about grant writing, and elements of a successful grant proposal) New information is also included throughout the book on becoming a successful writer, medical tables and figures, conflict of interest and disclosures, how to review a scientific article, statistical analysis, “pay-to-publish” journal publishing, electronic submission of manuscripts, issues in medical publishing and the future of medical writing and publication. New appendices address commonly encountered research and statistical terms and memorable aphorisms regarding writing, medical and otherwise.
This "how to" guide to effective writing in the medical sciences offers a solid sense of direction for every step of the writing-to-publication process. Designed for novice and veteran writers alike, this mainstay of the professional medical wordsmith's shelf has been revised, refreshed and reorganized to reflect today's fast-paced publishing environment and sensibilities.
This book is for the clinician who wants to write. It is for the physician, physician assistant, or nurse practitioner who sees patients and who wants to contribute to the medical l- erature. You may be an assistant professor aspiring to p- motion or a clinician in private practice who seeks the personal enrichment that writing can bring. If you are new to medical writing or even if you have been the author of some articles or book chapters and seek to improve your abilities, this book can help you. Who am I that I can make this assertion and write this book, both fairly presumptuous? Here’s my reasoning. As a practicing physician, writing has been my avocation; unlike the authors of many other writing books, I am not a journal editor. Over 14 years in private practice and 26 years in a- demic medicine, I have written all the major models described in this book: review articles, case reports, edito- als, letters to the editor, book reviews, book chapters, edited books, authored books, and reports of clinical research st- ies. Most have been published. Not all. Perhaps my most signi?cant quali?cation is not that I have managed to p- duce a lengthy curriculum vitae. In my opinion, what is more important for you, the reader, is that I have made all the errors. That’s right, the mistakes.
"A ... memoir about how the essential parts of one young woman's early life--her mother's work as a surgeon and her spiritual practice--led her to become a doctor and to question the premise that medicine exists to prolong life at all costs."--
Barbara Gastel, physician and acclaimed medical journalist, has prepared an expanded, enhanced second edition of Health Writer's Handbook. Fully updated, the latest edition of this trusted handbook has grown by nearly 100 pages, solidifying its reputation as a "practical guide packed with specifics on how to write about health intelligently and with sensitivity" (Nieman Reports). Examples of exemplary health writing now abound with insightful annotated comments. "Medical Reporting for the Electronic Media" (contributed by Tom Linden, M.D., University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill) addresses health reporting for television, radio, and the Internet. Also new to this edition is coverage of legal matters in the retitled "Ethical and Legal Issues" chapter. Journalistic exercises bring chapters to a close giving the reader opportunities to apply the principles presented. Health Writer's Handbook, Second Edition is a reference guide and textbook all in one, invaluable to experienced health writers looking to improve their writing and to students beginning their study in medical journalism.
A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER A New York Times Notable Book “Riveting, heartbreaking, sometimes difficult, always inspiring.” —The New York Times Book Review “An incredibly moving memoir about what it means to be a doctor.” —Ellen Pompeo As seen/heard on Fresh Air, The Daily Show with Trevor Noah, NBC Nightly News, MSNBC, Weekend Edition, and more An emergency room physician explores how a life of service to others taught her how to heal herself. Michele Harper is a female, African American emergency room physician in a profession that is overwhelmingly male and white. Brought up in Washington, D.C., in a complicated family, she went to Harvard, where she met her husband. They stayed together through medical school until two months before she was scheduled to join the staff of a hospital in central Philadelphia, when he told her he couldn’t move with her. Her marriage at an end, Harper began her new life in a new city, in a new job, as a newly single woman. In the ensuing years, as Harper learned to become an effective ER physician, bringing insight and empathy to every patient encounter, she came to understand that each of us is broken—physically, emotionally, psychically. How we recognize those breaks, how we try to mend them, and where we go from there are all crucial parts of the healing process. The Beauty in Breaking is the poignant true story of Harper’s journey toward self-healing. Each of the patients Harper writes about taught her something important about recuperation and recovery. How to let go of fear even when the future is murky: How to tell the truth when it’s simpler to overlook it. How to understand that compassion isn’t the same as justice. As she shines a light on the systemic disenfranchisement of the patients she treats as they struggle to maintain their health and dignity, Harper comes to understand the importance of allowing ourselves to make peace with the past as we draw support from the present. In this hopeful, moving, and beautiful book, she passes along the precious, necessary lessons that she has learned as a daughter, a woman, and a physician.
