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Product Description
The acclaimed doctor and author of the best-selling The Measure of Our Days---who writes "beautifully, tenderly, truthfully" (Oliver Sacks)--explores the art and science of decision-making in today's complex medical universe.
Jerome Groopman, an eminent clinician and researcher at Harvard Medical School and a staff writer for The New Yorker magazine, explored the spiritual dimension of illness in his highly praised The Measure of Our Days. In Second Opinions, he focuses on the greatest challenge that patients and their families face--how to evaluate and act on medical advice.
Told in eight gripping clinical dramas, linked by Groopman's unique insider's vantage point, Second Opinions is a book that reveals the forces at play--from the realities of medical politics to the importance of patient intuition--in making critical medical decisions. As we accompany Groopman, we witness him and his wife as anxious young parents of an infant near-fatally misdiagnosed; a family trapped by an HMO's rote plan about what seemed like routine asthma; and doctors' conflicts over a patient with no clear diagnosis--a case where non-intervention turned out to be the wise, lifesaving choice. An extraordinary reading experience, Second Opinions takes us into the complex and ever-changing world of medicine where knowledge is imperfect, no therapy is without risks, no prognosis fully predictable. Readers will come away with a profoundly changed perspective and a new ability to make medical choices, from a doctor Publishers Weekly said writes "with the eye of a poet, the heart of a philosopher, and the voice of a novelist."
Amazon.com Review
Respected AIDS and cancer specialist Jerome Groopman, M.D., discussed the convergence of illness and spirituality in his first book, The Measure of Our Days. In Second Opinions: Stories of Intuition and Choice in the Changing World of Medicine, he shifts his focus to the ways intuition informs his medical decisions and enhances the quality of his patient relationships (even giving him an edge when examining a patient on referral). In eight chapters that vividly recount cases whose outcomes hinge as much on the doctor's gut feeling and empathy as on his expertise, Groopman eschews the impersonal and know-it-all role of the doctor, describing instead dire cases in which careful consideration of both the emotional and medical issues positively impacted his approach to treatment.
"A clinical compass is built not only from the doctor's medical knowledge but also from joining his intuition with that of his patient," Groopman writes. "This melding of minds occurs when the physician probes not only his patient's body but also his spirit." This uniquely integrated compass is the guide that determines the safest, least traumatic treatment for people who are in advanced stages of illness or whose diagnoses are clinical conundrums. Of the eight stories here, there's Isabella, who was diagnosed with asthma but actually has acute leukemia; Peter, whose sickness is an enigma although he's clearly dying of a vicious lung-tissue disorder; and Alex, who will die from bone marrow failure unless its exact cause is identified. Groopman's narrative nimbly relates all the details of his patients' battles as well as the professional and emotional steps he takes when facing a medical challenge. In most cases, he has been sought out to provide a second opinion of the patient's diagnosis and proposed treatment. More often than not, the original diagnosis was inaccurate and Groopman's meticulous and insightful examinations yield findings that mean the difference between life and death. Second Opinions is a thoughtful, riveting book and a compelling tribute to the efficacy of medical care when handled responsibly and with empathy. It is also a cautionary collection of stories that reveal oversights inevitable in the health-care industry's rush to maximize efficiency, and as such it teaches an important lesson about the patient's role in ensuring a high quality of care. While Groopman runs the risk of seeming self-congratulatory, he proves himself a trustworthy advocate of patient empowerment and his sincere, articulate portrayal of intuition's subtle force will be inspirational for anyone confronting illness. --Rebecca Wright
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