4 comments about The Academic Surgeon.

1. Don't let the title throw you off. The Academic Surgeon makes a great read for anyone both doctors and lay alike. This book reads well and makes the life of a pioneer in surgery come to life.



2. Don't let the title throw you off. The Academic Surgeon makes a great read for anyone both doctors and lay alike. This book reads well and makes the life of a pioneer in surgery come to life.



3. The Academic Surgeon should be required reading for any premed or med student. Because of the insight it gives to an exciting period of medical history, surgeons certainly and other doctors and those in medical fields will find it excellent reading. The general reading public will also be fascinated by a look into the life of this pioneer in transplant surgery who excelled as a doctor, surgeon, teacher, administrator, and devoted family man.



4. It is rare to read an autobiography of a successful person involved in a technical field such as surgery and come away enriched by this humane, unselfish presentation offered by Dr. James D. Hardy. His down to earth story of how to balance family, politics, and medicine and still be a gentleman could only happen in the South. This book should be required reading for every pre-med student and should be kept as a bible for those who choose surgery for their calling.

No comments about Tough Times!.

No comments about Babies by the Dozen: Free Home Delivery, 1941.

No comments about Freud-Binswanger Correspondence, The.

2 comments about Equal Partners: A Physician's Call for a New Spirit of Medicine.

1. Despite its bland title this is a harrowing expose of the relationship between doctors, hospitals and patients. It's also a moving personal story about catastrophe, agonizing recovery and adjustment.

   A week after graduating with honors from Harvard Medical School, Heymann suffered a severe seizure and was rushed to the emergency room. Awakening with no memory of the event, she found her arms and legs strapped to a hard slab. Unable to move, surrounded by strangers, she was terrified and kept calling for her husband, wondering what "they" had done to him. No one answered her cries.

   And this was only the beginning. As Heymann describes the nightmare of awaiting diagnosis, clinging to the stoicism she learned as a medical student - good patients are quiet patients - she begins to understand that hospitals are constructed around the convenience of the professionals. She reflects on the small things that might ease a patient's anxiety - knowledge mostly. Explanations about what is happening and what they can expect of themselves on release.

   Heymann had bled into her brain and surgery was recommended. The operation was botched, through medical oversight, but Heymann's anger about this is less than her anger at the lies, evasions and brush-offs which follow. After numerous conflicting reports, her doctor tells her the hemangioma had all been removed. But one of the books most chilling passages comes later. The pathologist's study concluded that her hemangioma had not been removed. Her doctor never informed her of this report (she does not say how she learned of it).

   Discharged after surgery, Heymann is so weak that watching television is too taxing and caring for her toddler son is impossible. No one was prepared for the sort of care she would need. And Heymann herself refuses to compromise her ambitions. She believes strongly that meaning in life comes from helping others. She and her husband (also a doctor) had always intended to work in a clinic in a third world country. They also want a second child.

   So she embarks on her grueling internship as soon as possible, terrified of the seizures which may wreck her career. Numerous heart-tugging case histories are interspersed with her own halting progress. Explaining procedures and home care to her patients, she shows how the frightened "difficult" patients are calmed and easier to treat when given a modicum of understanding.

   This well-written, moving and deeply scary memoir should be widely read but probably won't be. In a letter Heymann wrote to the New England Journal of Medicine protesting prejudice against people with seizures she described herself as "a physician who has both treated patients with seizures and lived with seizures." The Journal removed only four words. "They would not print that I had lived with seizures, only that I had treated others."




2. Anyone who uses the American health care system or works in it should read this book. This story of a Harvard doctor with a brain tumor shows why there is so much needless suffering within our health care system. It's not going to start getting better unless we all look at the problem and do our part to fix it.

No comments about Edward Archibald: Surgeon Of The Royal Vic (Fontanus Monograph).

No comments about Burning Issues: A Belfast Fire Officer's Memoir of the City Firefighters During ""the Troubles"" 1968 - 88.

No comments about A Woman Wanders Through Life and Science (Suny Series in the Voices of Immigrant Women).

2 comments about Full Time Doctors an Endangered Species: All Physician MDS Are Now Specialists.

1. A 50 year history of the development of the Medical Specialist, and the role of the General Practitioner of Medicine, from the experience of an 80 year old Physician MD, who has continued his medical education, and has maintained his license to practice.
   
   Details of the practice of medicine in Norfolk, Virginia, including the major hospitals and many prominent MD's. The chapters are diversified dealing with the Art and Practice of Medicine, emphasizing how experience creates the very best Physicians. Educational to pre-med and medical students, as well as graduate MDs, and yet is written so that a lay person can easily comprehend.
   
   It's all non-fiction with chapters on fascinating, rare, complex, or very interesting medical cases, many of which remain relevant in the practice of medicine today. Dr. Whitmore expresses opinions and beliefs based on his experience as a classic MD, who made "house calls", a concept all but eliminated by the norms of medical practices today. The chapter on "Allergy To What?" illustrates that only by making a house call can physicians discover the problem allergen. There are chapters on humor, and a beautiful love story entitled "My Wife", all making for a comfortable arm chair read, and a wonderful tribute to the practice of medicine by M.D.'s who could take the time to get personal and involved with their patients.



2. 
   Physicians and health professionals, regardless of their areas of expertise, will undoubtedly benefit from the medical experiences and opinions that Dr. William H. Whitmore portrays so effectively in his book entitled Full Time Doctors An Endangered Species. He acknowledges that before the birth of "specialists," physicians with less experience would seek help from older, wiser, and more experienced colleagues if they could not deal with a specific problem. After thirty-five years as a General Practitioner where he treated patients wholly, doing minor surgeries, delivering babies, and diagnosing health problems, the author retired due to some serious health problems. The period of time during which he and many others practiced medicine is often referred to as the "Golden Years." Although, there continues to be wonderful advances in science and medicine, this era that he refers to is over. The author reminds readers that too many doctors just "don't do windows," and instead of treating individuals in their offices for conditions that they are quite capable of handling, they often choose to refer patients to one or more specialists.
   
   Dr. Whitmore describes the changes that have progressively taken place throughout the years in regard to how and where physicians are trained and how and where patients receive medical care. With such evolution, some changes, such as the advances in technology are exciting; however, others convey a personal sense of loss. Because my doctors don't do windows, I have been referred to specialist after specialist for various health problems, and since none of these physicians truly knew my entire medical history--or me--there have been some negative results.
   
   Even though I am not a physician, I found many of the medical cases that Dr. Whitmore writes about to be fascinating. Reading how he solved medical puzzles was entertaining, educational and personally reassuring. He honestly states that he "learned" the art of practicing medicine and, just as he sought advice from more experienced physicians in his early years of practice, he was soon sharing his insight and experience with newer generations of physicians. In writing Full Time Doctors An Endangered Species, he continues to do this, offering life-saving lessons and his own unique medical experiences that need to be passed on to today's medical students. This book is a valuable resource that, in my opinion, should be required reading for students who wants the benefits of Dr. Whitmore's years of "learned expertise" before they even began the art of practicing medicine.
   
   Whether reading how the author assisted physicians in diagnosing members of his own family, participated in some rather unusual autopsies, showed examples of effective "old time" remedies, communicated with patients as he diagnosed their conditions, dealt with rare diseases and infections, described how one patient was scared to death, reminisced about former employees, shared stories of memorable recoveries as well as the emotions involved in losing patients, readers will respect this doctor and his contributions to society. He describes his relationship with his father, who was also a physician, and the wonderful life that he enjoys with his wife of fifty-five years. Not surprisingly, he continues to keep up with all the medical advances, and, although retired, maintains his license to practice medicine and surgery.
   
   When Dr. Whitmore describes his own serious illnesses, he is open and honest. I was intrigued that he admitted not having good rapport with a particular neurosurgeon and thus engaged the services of a different physician in this field. This sends an important message to all readers of this book. Don't settle when it comes to your health!
   
   This is a book that I highly recommend; within the pages, there is wit and wisdom that needs to be absorbed and utilized. As I read each chapter, I found myself wishing more and more that I could find a physician who practices medicine as Dr. Whitmore did until his retirement. But, as the title suggests, he is "an endangered species." I find this sad and also more than a little frightening.
   
   An Independent Professional Reviewer

No comments about Human Biologists in the Archives: Demography, Health, Nutrition and Genetics in Historical Populations (Cambridge Studies in Biological and Evolutionary Anthropology).