White Coat Tales: Medicine's Heroes, Heritage, and Misadventures / Edition 1

by Robert B. Taylor

Overview

Ifyou wantto understandtoday,you have to search yesterday. Pearl S. Buck (1892 1973) I begin this book with a premise: If there is a human endeavor that is richer in tradition, culture, and idiosyncrasies than medicine, I don't know what it is. What you are about to read presents some of these treasures tales of the epic scientific discoveries as well as some behind the scenes medical anecdotes. In the pages that follow, you will find a selection of medicine's scientific triumphs, clinical curiosities, insightful aphorisms, inventive m- monics, imaginative myths, and occasional blunders. In short, the book tells what physicians didn't learn in medical school, but probably should have. But the book is not intended solely for physicians. The tales that follow should be enlightening for all involved in medicine, including the diverse panorama of health professionals, and also anyone who has ever been a patient in a doctor's office or hospital.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781441916198
Publisher:	Springer New York
Publication date:	12/09/2009
Edition description:	1st ed. 2008. 2nd printing 2009
Pages:	272
Product dimensions:	5.70(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.60(d)

About the Author

Robert Taylor is well known and highly regarded in the field of Family Medicine. Dr. Taylor has more than 14 years in private practice and 26 years in academic medicine.

Table of Contents

Heroes, Diseases, and Remedies.- Heroes in Medical History ab[Abstract.- Diseases That Changed History.- Drugs and Other Remedies.- The Heritage and Culture of Medicine.- Medical Words and Phrases.- Whose Syndrome? Stories of Medical Eponyms.- Medical Abbreviations, Acronyms, Euphemisms, Jargon, and Slang.- Medical Aphorisms.- Memorable Medical Quotations.- Clinical Notes and Medical Misadventures.- Famous Persons as Patients.- Short Tales of Serendipity, Curiosities, Medical Trivia, Authorship, and Speculation.- Misadventures: Myths, Misinformation, Blunders, and Wrongdoing.- Now and Future Practice.

Editorial Reviews

Reviewer: Philip W. Leon, PhD (The Citadel)
Description: Following a long career in academic medicine, Robert Taylor has assembled a miscellany of medical anecdotes, word origins, aphorisms, and medical quotations culled from his lectures and wide reading. He acknowledges that his book is a potpourri of items that touch on various aspects of medicine.
Purpose: Taylor says his purpose is to present "medicine's scientific triumphs, clinical curiosities, insightful aphorisms, inventive mnemonics, imaginative myths, and occasional blunders." Readers with a background in medical history will find that he accomplishes his purpose in clear, often humorous prose. Obviously one who enjoys irony and serendipity, he provides engaging stories from ancient to modern times.
Audience: The primary audience is other physicians who will doubtless remember some of the anecdotes from their medical school days. Medical students or physicians just beginning their careers will also profit from reading the brief discussions of heroes in medical history, diseases that changed the world, and some of the miracle drugs that combat illnesses.
Features: Taylor makes no secret of his love for word origins and, in this case, words that figure prominently in medicine. He includes lists of terms drawn from Latin and Greek, mythology, place names, metaphors, and descriptive phrases. In another chapter he presents some well known medical aphorisms and discusses the physicians who first said them. As one would expect, he devotes a chapter to medical eponyms and in doing so, pays tribute to physicians whose names became associated with a cure or procedure. The lay reader will not find the chapter on medical abbreviations, acronyms, jargon, and slang as engaging as other features of the book.
Assessment: This is the sort of book that many physicians wish they could write showing the many facets of medicine and its relationship to history, personalities, literature, and social forces. In a particularly valuable and informative chapter, Taylor shares with his readers the names of famous and infamous persons from history and popular culture who suffered from bipolar disorder, epilepsy, Parkinson Disease, Alzheimer Disease, migraine headaches, diabetes, and breast cancer. This is an enjoyable read and a welcome addition to the field of medical humanism.

Doody's Review Service