Vendor
	Fritz Agency Christian Dittus
Original language
English

DEAR DOCTOR

Marilyn McEntyre

What Doctors Don't Ask, What Patients Need to Say

In the form of an open letter from patients to their doctors, spiritual writer and professor of medical humanities Marilyn McEntyre brings to light the hidden fears, desperate needs, deepest hopes, and heartfelt truths that many feel doctors overlook in their approach to health care. It's a clarion call for doctors to attend to the whole person and listen deeply, rather than rush to assess a set of symptoms. And it's a letter that informs doctors of the many things that patients already know about themselves and their health.
Engaging and candid, Dear Doctor covers the basics of how patients view their time with doctors, how they want doctors to collaborate on health issues, and even how patients bring their faith and spirituality to their view of their health and their bodies. Ultimately, this book is an important first step to begin a dialogue between two communities that often have a very large disconnect.

Marilyn McEntyre is a spiritual writer, speaker and professor of medical humanities and American literature. A graduate of UC Davis and Princeton, she has won several outstanding teaching awards. She is invested in helping heal the planet and doesn't think we can do that without imagination, compassion, humility, and a massive paradigm shift. McEntyre lives in Carmichael, California.

Available products
Book Published 2021-03-01 by Broadleaf Books

Comments

Marilyn McEntyre's work in medical humanities helps me be a better doctor and teacher. In this book, ostensibly addressed to physicians but rich in wisdom for anyone who has a body, she inspires me to become a better patient.Dear Doctorserves as a balm for the soul and a guidebook to those fraught conversations peculiar to the 'medical encounter. --Brian Volck, MD, author of Attending Others: A Doctor's Education in Bodies and Words

Dear Doctor is a love letter to the common humanity that unites patient and physician. McEntyre teaches us that every patient is not only a lesson for the doctor, but also an intriguing human being whose life enriches the doctor's experience and improves care. By reinforcing the virtues of curiosity, respect, and listening, McEntyre leads the reader, whether student, doctor, or all the rest of us, to a deep understanding of the human connection at the heart of the clinical encounter. --Audrey Shafer, MD, author of The Mailbox

Not since Anatole Broyard's Intoxicated by My Illness has there been a clearer, more eloquent and sensitive description of the qualities of the ideal professional caregiver. Although directed at physicians, Dear Doctor should be on the required reading list for all caregivers, from nurses to aides to dentists to physical therapists. One can only hope those who read this book will reflect on not only who they'd want for their ideal caregiver but, more importantly, if they measure up to this ideal. --Richard M. Ratzan, MD, editor of Imagining Vesalius