Reviews for What Patients Taught Me: A Medical Student's Journey

The average rating for What Patients Taught Me: A Medical Student's Journey based on 2 reviews is 4.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2014-01-12 00:00:00 Hyiah Reder Actually this book turned out to be a little treat for me. I stumbled across this book by going through my wife's library and at first glance thought to myself: it seems a bit cheesy! But nonetheless, I've decided to give it a chance and read it. It wonderfully chronicles the tale of a medical student who went through her clinical training in non-academic establishments far away from urban civilization. However, to me it was more than just a well written memoir. It opened my eyes towards a very important concept, and that is: the comprehensiveness of the medical profession. We've come to an era in medicine when super-specialization is the prevailing method of practice and education. While being no doubt, it is absolutely necessary to over come the explosion in medical knowledge and the inherit human fallibility of doctoring, it is not without consequences. Rural medicine has fallen ill despite the fact that it still remains the most pure and humane form of doctoring. This book shifts the focus towards underserved populations and elucidate the importance of primary care not only in the overall healthcare system of a nation, but in shaping the physicians of tomorrow as well. I highly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in health care systems, medical education and of course family medicine. Also, to my fellow medical students. This book inspires the notion of getting out of your comfort zone and having the guts to learn on unfamiliar grounds and high-stakes uncertain situations.

Review # 2 was written on 2012-05-14 00:00:00 Stuart Mark After hearing that many foreign doctors practice in my home town, Yakima, because it is considered an underserved rural community (medical-wise) I was interested in reading What Patients Taught Me because it related the experiences of the author in a medical education program run by the UW to increase the numbers of general practitioners in rural regions of Washington, Wyoming, Idaho and Montana. Apparently the program is successful. Young writes very well about her experiences, although she sometimes spends a little purple prose imagining the lives of her patients after they walk out of her exam rooms. In any case, I liked it, and I liked her attitude. I am glad she is now teaching at the UW.