Physician Memoirs

In this deeply personal audiobook, winner of the 2017 Hilary Weston Writers' Trust Prize for Nonfiction, humanitarian doctor and activist James Maskalyk reflects upon his extensive experience in emergency medicine. Splitting his time between a trauma centre in Toronto's inner city and the largest teaching hospital in Addis Ababa, he discovers that though the cultures, resources and medical challenges of the hospitals may differ, they are linked indelibly by the ground floor: the location of their emergency rooms.

In the quarter century that Victoria Sweet has been a doctor, "health care" has replaced medicine, "providers" (vastly outnumbered by administrators) look at their laptops more than at their patients, and the ruthless pursuit of efficiency has vanquished not only trust and intimacy but also, often, the effectiveness of treatment. Victoria Sweet knows that there is an alternative way, because she has lived and practiced it. In her new book, she reflects with compassion, wit, and profound insight.

While much has been written about the minds and methods of the medical professionals who save our lives, precious little has been said about their emotions. Physicians are assumed to be objective, rational beings, easily able to detach as they guide patients and families through some of life’s most challenging moments. But understanding doctors’ emotional responses to the life-and-death dramas of everyday practice can make all the difference on giving and getting the best medical care.

The late Dr. Michihiko Hachiya was director of the Hiroshima Communications Hospital when the world's first atomic bomb was dropped on the city. Though his responsibilities in the appalling chaos of a devastated city were awesome, he found time to record the story daily, with compassion and tenderness. Dr. Hachiya's compelling diary was originally published by the UNC Press in 1955, with the help of Dr. Warner Wells of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Larry Brilliant's life journey has led him on a purposeful path across continents and countercultural movements, marching arm in arm with the men and women who defined a generation. A man who has always been in the right place at the right time, Brilliant has engaged with some of the most prominent thought leaders, spiritual masters, heroes, and icons in the world, including Neem Karoli Baba (Maharajji), Martin Luther King Jr., Steve Jobs, Mikhail Gorbachev, Wavy Gravy, the Grateful Dead, the Dalai Lama, and Barack Obama.

An epic story told by a unique voice in Ameri­can medicine, One Doctor describes life-changing experiences in the career of a distinguished physi­cian. In riveting first-person prose, Dr. Brendan Reilly takes us to the front lines of medicine today.

As a third-year Harvard Medical student doing a clinical rotation in surgery, Ronald Epstein watched an experienced surgeon fail to notice his patient's kidney turning an ominous shade of blue. In that same rotation, Epstein was awestruck by another surgeon's ability to slow down and shift between autopilot and intentionality. The difference between these two doctors left a lasting impression on Epstein and set the stage for his life's work - to identify the qualities and habits that distinguish masterful doctors from those who are merely competent.

A collection of the most memorable moments from old-school rural physicians who each practiced medicine for more than 50 years in the Southern Appalachian Mountains. Hilarious, heroic, heartwarming true stories of miracle cures, ghost dogs, and much madcap medical mayhem.

A pediatric oncologist and palliative care physician Dr. Adam B. Hill suffers stress and disillusionment with the culture of medicine. It led him to alcoholism, depression, and suicidal thoughts. Then, while in recovery, he loses a mentor to suicide, revealing the extent of the burnout epidemic in the medical field.

When Dr. Courtney Burnett began to experience strange neurological symptoms while studying abroad in Thailand, the last thing she expected was to self-diagnose a malignant brain tumor. Difficult Gifts is an honest, friendly, and unique memoir written by a thirty-something woman who doesn’t like memoirs, especially ones about cancer. But when life gave her an unexpected difficulty, she found the gifts of it worth sharing. This story is a fresh, upbeat, and vulnerable portrayal of a physician becoming a patient. Courtney takes us on a journey to Thailand and into the mind of a person facing...

For decades, osteopathic physician Larry Nassar built a sterling reputation as the go-to doctor for America's Olympians while treating countless others at his office on Michigan State University's campus. It was largely within the high-pressure world of competitive gymnastics that Nassar exploited young girls, sexually assaulting hundreds of them under the guise of medical treatment. In Start by Believing, John Barr and Dan Murphy confront Nassar's acts, which represent the largest sex abuse scandal to impact the sporting world.

Many know from experience that the medical system can be difficult to navigate. Take it from Randy Pherson, who struggled with a medical condition for five years before getting a proper diagnosis - and once he did, had to undergo a major surgery to save his life. Because of his experience, Pherson decided to help others facing similar situations. Using his background of analytics from the CIA, Pherson offers his readers precise, analytical techniques for using the system to their advantage.

A biography capturing the adult life of Dr. Milorad Velimirović, a Serb who studied and lived in Czarist Russia in the decades just before WWI and the Russian Revolution. His life is revealed through letters home which contain descriptions of concerts and plays, politics of the day and his attendance at social events; all of this is in addition to the expected personal and familial concerns of an eldest son for his parents and younger brothers and sisters.

In his exceptionally thought-provoking and moving memoir, neurosurgeon Joseph D. Stern explores how personal loss influences the way physicians relate to patients and their families.

We have lost the war on cancer. We spend $150 billion each year treating it, yet - a few innovations notwithstanding - a patient with cancer is as likely to die of it as one was 50 years ago. Most new drugs add mere months to one's life at agonizing physical and financial cost. In The First Cell, Azra Raza offers a searing account of how both medicine and our society (mis)treats cancer, how we can do better, and why we must.

Young Joy, who has been experiencing the stifling control of the Chinese government over the lofty ambitions of university students like herself to study abroad, has just realized that the forces amassed against her won't budge a millimeter despite her efforts to work within the system. So Joy initiates a complex series of daring scenarios to beat the legal system at its own game in order to secure her exit visa to the United States. And she does: transforming herself into the Tiger of Beijing. Calculated. Intuitive. Fierce.

Zagrans brings to light the amazing story of a devout Catholic physician, Dr. Issam Nemeh, who has prayed over tens of thousands of people, leading to miraculous physical, emotional, and spiritual healing.

Every weekend, in Holland’s most popular newspaper, de Volkskrant, renowned science-journalist Ellen de Visser asks a different medical professional to tell her about ‘that one patient’; the patient who changed everything for them. Every day, in every country, thousands of patients share their stories with their doctors: stories they may never have told anyone else; stories that are heartbreaking, sometimes funny and - just occasionally - unforgettable.

There are many struggles in this difficult world that can darken our skies. It may be ongoing health issues, depression/anxiety, relationship struggles, financial calamity and so much more.

A Life in Trauma is a frank, remarkable account of a career spent helping others, offering a positive outlook on the potential of Ireland’s healthcare system in the future. Concern. Compassion. Doubt. Despair. Anger. Hope. Imagine juggling these feelings every day in a situation where your work could mean the difference between someone's life or death.