Search Results for: medical

Authors: Eric Lister, MD and Todd Sagin, MD Publisher: – Health Administration Press – 232 pages Book Review by: Nano Khilnanai The authors of this book point out in the Preface itself that the health care system in the United States needs to improve dramatically in three basic ways. At the very core of this system are the provider and the recipient of care: the doctor and his patient. This book deals essentially with how to deliver care to the satisfaction of the patient and his doctor in terms of best outcome or effect, reasonable cost, and overall enhancement of health. Drs. Lister and Sagin show that when the characteristics of such ideal care are achieved in the basic unit of care, which is the doctor-patient relationship, all the other people and institutions involved in health care –  the patients’ families, the hospitals and their staff members, the employers, the insurers and other entities – benefit. In this book, they lay out their plan to bring about lasting positive change in the United States health care system by improving one critical aspect of health care:  the hospital-doctor working relationship. They look at the different types of employment arrangements and compensation that have existed over the past, how they have changed, and what exist today. They spell out the advantages and disadvantages of each type. Then they point out what...

Editor: Arvind Venkat, MD Publisher:  Wiley Blackwell -359   pages Book Review by:  Nano Khilnani This book contains articles written by 20 contributors – all in the United States – who are specialists in various areas of medicine and surgery. The editor, Arvind Venkat MD, is research director in the emergency department at Allegheny General Hospital in Pittsburgh. He is also an associate professor of emergency medicine at the Drexel University College of Medicine in Philadelphia. Dr. Venkat has written the Introduction of this book and co-written three of the 16 chapters of this book. Those pertain to end-stage renal disease, cystic fibrosis, and the human immunodeficiency virus or HIV. Each chapter starts with an Introduction and epidemiology (the sum of factors that control the incidence, presence or absence of a disease). The topic headings are then presented along pertinent discussions. The number of topics and length of discussions vary in each chapter depending on how much depth the authors choose to get into. The chapter ends with a short conclusion and a reference list which is typically quite large. This resource is for the benefit of the reader to gain additional information and insight and more specialized knowledge.  Some charts, tables and computer tomography (CT) scans are also presented in each chapter to aid in learning. The 16 chapters cover quite a broad range of conditions, complications and diseases...

Author: Marsha Friedman Publisher: Warren Publishing Inc. 175 pages Book Review by Nano Khilnani This is a wonderful book. I read it thoroughly from cover to cover, including the mini-reviews on the back of it.  It is easy to read and understand. The title is also attractive. The use of a new word by Marsha Friedman, one I have never seen anywhere before – “celebritize”- reflects absolute brilliance. Whether it was the author or the cover designer who decided to use this word in developing the title for this book, it does not matter. Whoever it was deserves kudos, because it compels the book shopper to grab and buy it. Who does not want to be a celebrity, with the chance to become a millionaire? You can even find self-fulfillment by contributing your knowledge to people to make them more successful. Who would not want that as well? Everyone would. Well, on second thought, not everyone has high-enough self esteem to make the decision to become a celebrity. The word “celebrity” immediately conjures up an image in my mind of a gleaming, smiling Hollywood star, in bright lights, with flash bulbs popping rapidly. That image of a celebrity however, has changed over the years. It is not just people in the movies who reach the pinnacle of their career. In almost every field these days, there are celebrities. That...

Author: David Gelber, MD Publisher: Ruffian Press. 187 pages Book Review by Nano Khilnani I revere surgeons as almost superhuman beings. They go through four years of college, likely another four more years of medical school, two years of internship, and probably another two to four years of residency. But the learning never stops – with reading medical journals, attending medical conferences and conventions and daily practice that reveals cases with new twists to the diseases and organ malfunctions. Keeping constantly updated on the latest developments in their medical specialty is a never-ending part of a surgeon’s life. I also regard them as the closest link to God for humans (besides religious persons)  because it is their knowledge and experience acquired over many years, their discipline and work ethic and dedication to their patients that enable them to keep us alive and avoid death. What else could be a nobler line of work? That is why I wanted to be a doctor when I was in high school. But somehow my life took a different turn, and I turned out becoming a writer. I suppose it does not only take a surgeon way-above-average intellectual capacity to keep learning from new cases, but also an unusually large-range emotional makeup that can withstand tremendous psychological highs and lows and stress on a daily basis. Saving a life gives ineffable satisfaction, but...

Editors: Graham R. Nimmo and Mervyn Singer Publisher:  Wiley-Blackwell – www.abcbookseries.com  – BMJ Books – 76 pages Book Review by: Nano Khilnani This book is part of the ABC book series edited and written by specialists for non-specialists and published jointly by the two publishers mentioned above. Dr. Nimmo is a consultant physician in intensive care medicine and clinical education at Western General Hospital in Edinburgh in the United Kingdom and Dr. Singer is professor of intensive care medicine at University College in London, UK. The two editors have selectively sought and received material from 15 contributors – 14 of whom are from the UK and one from Scotland – as well as contributed articles themselves to the book. This book provides core knowledge and principles in intensive care patient management with respect to the conditions of various key organs and critical-stage body functions of patients who require such care and close watch. The key organs and systems are: the brain and the nervous system, the heart and the circulatory system, the liver and the hepatic system, the kidney and the renal system, the lungs and the respiratory system, the stomach, intestines and associated organs (gall bladder, liver, pancreas, etc.) of the digestive and excretory system. The 15 chapters in this book cover topics ranging from general principles of intensive care management to end-of-life care, with specific discussions on...