Description
Book SynopsisPublished in association with the Annals of Family Medicine, The Wonder and the Mystery is an anthology of intimate personal stories and innovative ideas from the Annals' Reflections section. It includes a wide range of articles, from influential pieces on urgent topical issues to exceptional stories of unique individuals. These articles shed light on small moments and major life transitions. In the process, they help us find meaning in our own physical, emotional, and spiritual journeys. The one-of-a-kind stories and ideas in the book speak to all of us who are interested in health care and health, caring and connection: clinicians, patients, family members, researchers, policy makers, and more. The book reminds us that "the things we cannot measure may be the very things that will sustain us."
Trade Review"Primary care is not only a work of science, primary care is a front row seat on life, a rare glimpse of the wonder and mystery present below the surface of the ordinary."
—From the Foreword by Rachel Naomi Remen, MD
Table of ContentsForeword. About the editor. List of contributors. Acknowledgments. Introduction. Section 1: Primary care at work. Nasruddin and the coin. One last question: opening Pandora's box? A headache at the end of the day. The joy of family practice. Success, regret, and the struggle for balance. The company we keep: why physicians should refuse to see pharmaceutical representatives. Doctors' work: eulogy for my vocation. Section 2: Patient care and caring. Pounds. The old duffers' club. Home care: a key to the future of family medicine? Boy scouts for Henry. Lessons from my left foot. Section 3: Wounds and healing. Suffering, meaning, and healing: challenges of contemporary medicine. Letting the news. Losing touch in the era of superbugs? The decade dance. The face of cancer. Section 4: Connections. A change will do you good. Linking Ruth to her past. On this day of mothers and sons. Jazz and the 'art' of medicine: improvisation in the medical encounter. Gazing at the future. Section 5: Knowledge. General medical practitioners need to be aware of the theories on which our work depend. The irreverent nature of evidence. Bag of worms. The impotence of being important - reflections on leadership. 'Be gentle and be sincere about it': a story about community-based primary care research. The dark bridal canopy. Making time to write? Section 6: Who we are and where we're going. A public celebration of a personal doctor. Health care becomes an industry. The dream of home ownership. The myth of the lone physician: towards a collaborative alternative. Dinosaurs, hospital ecosystems, and the future of family. Section 7: Medicine, society, the world. The island. Si, Doctora. Stuck in the mud. Indication. The break-even point: when medical advances are less important than improving the fidelity with which they are delivered. Ecological change and the future of the human species: can physicians make a difference? A journey to someplace better. Index.
