Proper Doctoring - Softcover

Mendel, D.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 354013686X ISBN 13: 9783540136866

Publisher: Springer, 1984

Synopsis

There are many textbooks which give detailed descriptions of the causes, clinical features and treatment of disease. There are a number of books devoted to clinical methodo­ logy which tell the student the questions which he must ask and describe the physical signs that he should seek. The authors of these books rarely devote more than a page or two to a job description and advice on how to acquire clinical skills. Although a sound knowledge of the facts is essential, a good doctor differs from a bad doctor more by his attitude and craftsmanship than by his knowledge. These important matters receive scant attention in the textbooks because the authors regard them as part of the spoken tradition which is taught at the bedside or in the clinics and is absorbed by watching clinicians while they are dealing with patients. The image of the doctor who greets patients with his pen poised over a prescription pad, and the calls for holistic medicine, imply that a number of students do not pick up the relevant attitudes and skills on the way. That this feeling is shared by the profession itself is suggested by the forma­ tion of a society to promote the treatment of the whole patient, and another for the promotion of humanism in cardiology. Good doctors have been treating the whole patient humanely since the profession was founded, and I find it shocking that it is thought that such societies are necessary.

About this title

Review

“A remarkable collection of observations, aphorisms, and grandfatherly advice . . .”

(Annals of Internal Medicine)

“David Mendel was an exceptionally talented individual, a polymath whose career was never confined to his profession of cardiology...As skilled with his tongue and pen as he was with a stethoscope . . . Mendel was a superlative teacher of medical students . . . His informal and easy style of writing did not disguise the wisdom and humanity of the content.”

(Desmond Julian, The Independent)

“Proper Doctoring is a gem for physicians, future physicians, and clinicians of all types. Written in small paragraphs, it presents advice to practitioners, much like the old fashioned homily, and contains many brief examples and aphorisms. . . . The reviewer recommends the book for its grace, honesty, and integrity.”

(American Psychological Association)

“Good doctors are often too busy to write such a book and we are fortunate that someone of Mendel’s stature has taken the time and trouble to do so. None of us should be too busy to read it.”

(David Hay, Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine)

About the Author

DAVID MENDEL (1922–2007) was born in East London. He was a poor student and applied to medical school on a whim after discovering that he wasn't suited for his father's millinery business. He contracted tuberculosis while at his first hospital job and was confined to bed for six months, after which he spent time as a ship's doctor. In 1960 he was hired by St. Thomas's Hospital, London, where he would stay for more than two decades, working as a senior lecturer and a specialist in cardiology. During these years he wrote the well-regarded textbook The Practice of Cardiac Catheterisation and acquired a reputation as a popular and lively teacher. Mendel retired from medicine in 1986, moving to a cottage in Kent with his wife, Margaret, and earning a degree in Italian from the University of Kent. From then until his death he occupied himself playing the flute, building furniture, and publishing essays on Italian subjects, particularly about his friend, the chemist and writer Primo Levi.

JEROME GROOPMAN is the Dina and Raphael Recanati Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and chief of Experimental Medicine, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. He has published more than 180 scientific articles, is a staff writer at The New Yorker, and most recently, the coauthor of Your Medical Mind.

Edition details

• Publisher: Springer
• Publication date: 1984
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 354013686X
• ISBN 13: 9783540136866
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 192