When Doctors Don't Listen
How to Avoid Misdiagnoses and Unnecessary Tests
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3.7 • 10 Ratings
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- $11.99
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
In this examination of the doctor-patient relationship, Drs. Wen and Kosowsky argue that diagnosis, once the cornerstone of medicine, is fast becoming a lost art, with grave consequences.
Using real-life stories of cookbook-diagnoses-gone-bad, the doctors illustrate how active patient participation can prevent these mistakes. Wen and Kosowsky offer tangible follow-up questions patients can easily incorporate into every doctor's visit to avoid counterproductive and even potentially harmful tests. In the pursuit for the best medical care available, readers can't afford to miss out on these inside-tips and more:
- How to deal with a doctor who seems too busy to listen to you
- 8-Pillars to a Better Diagnosis
- How to tell the whole story of your illness
- Learning test risks and evaluating whether they're worth it
- How to get a working diagnosis at the end of every doctor's visit
By empowering patients to engage with their doctors as partners in their diagnosis, When Doctors Don't Listen is an essential guide that enables patients to speak up and take back control of their health care.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Doctors Wen and Kosowsky (Pocket Emergency Medicine, co-editor) nudge the medical "consumer empowerment movement" forward with this provocative dialogic guide to help patients get the right diagnosis and treatment while avoiding the pitfalls of formulaic "cookbook" medicine. It all starts with an open conversation, the pair assert much like the banter between car owner and mechanic on NPR's popular Car Talk program and ends with an active M.D.-patient partnership. "You are the key to your own health, and you have to help your doctor help you," the duo insist. Recounted are hair-raising stories of patients who bore the brunt of doctors leaping to "worst-case reasoning" instead of listening to what their patients were telling them, like Jerry the car mechanic with a pulled muscle who was treated for a heart attack. The team warns consumers that the transformation from passive recipient of medical care to active partner won't be easy, but provide plenty of how-tos in their "8 Pillars" toward building a patient-doctor partnership. Theirs is an urgent call to action for patients, and a stark heads-up for doctors and the troubled healthcare industry they serve. 4 graphs.
Customer Reviews
When Doctor's Don't Listen
I felt that this was a very well written book about learning how to advocate for your own health care when speaking to your physician. They gave many examples and practical ones that anyone could apply. I feel that this is an excellent book to read for everyone!!!