The Human Kind
A Doctor's Stories From The Heart Of Medicine
Published on 2. May 2019
Book
Paperback/Softback
352 pages
978-1-4729-4394-1 (ISBN)
Description
The Human Kind is a compelling account of some of the hardest cases in one doctor's career.
Everyone gets to be a patient sooner or later. Almost everyone has some experience of being misunderstood by doctors; encounters with difficult doctors; of relationships burdened with mutual bafflement, hostility and pain.
Every doctor is haunted by memories of difficult relationships with patients, of the decisions made, and the outcomes that followed. People whom, despite all of their patience, persistence, the best communication, diagnostic and reasoning skills, they haven't helped. People for whose unique suffering it seems medicine has nothing to offer.
Dr. Peter Dorward explores the many ethical dilemmas that GPs must face every day, to explain why it is that despite vast resources, time, skill and dedication, medicine is so often destined to fail. His recollections include his worst failures and biggest challenges, ranging from the everyday, the tragic, the grotesque, the villainous and the humorous.
The Human Kind presents a fresh understanding of the difficult relationship between doctor and patient, and the challenges which both must face.
Everyone gets to be a patient sooner or later. Almost everyone has some experience of being misunderstood by doctors; encounters with difficult doctors; of relationships burdened with mutual bafflement, hostility and pain.
Every doctor is haunted by memories of difficult relationships with patients, of the decisions made, and the outcomes that followed. People whom, despite all of their patience, persistence, the best communication, diagnostic and reasoning skills, they haven't helped. People for whose unique suffering it seems medicine has nothing to offer.
Dr. Peter Dorward explores the many ethical dilemmas that GPs must face every day, to explain why it is that despite vast resources, time, skill and dedication, medicine is so often destined to fail. His recollections include his worst failures and biggest challenges, ranging from the everyday, the tragic, the grotesque, the villainous and the humorous.
The Human Kind presents a fresh understanding of the difficult relationship between doctor and patient, and the challenges which both must face.
Reviews / Votes
Moving, compassionate and beautifully written - this book illuminates general practice the way Henry Marsh has illuminated neurosurgery. Dorward's stories from his practice are subtle, eloquent and told with great integrity. He doesn't shy away from confronting some of the most difficult challenges in medicine. But he carries the reader through with verve, imagination and great humanity. I loved it. -- Gavin Francis * author of Adventures in Human Being * Peter Dorward has created a moving and thought-provoking insight into complexities of contemporary general practice -- Dr. Jed Mercurio * writer/producer of Line of Duty, Cardiac Arrest and Bodies * ...funny, edgy, moving, it ambushes you with sudden kindnesses and flashes of human resilience and goodness. -- Allan Little * former BBC researcher and reporter * wise and illuminating... a compelling and beautifully written account of learning to be a doctor * Sunday Express * This wise and illuminating collection of case histories examines the many ethical dilemmas that doctors face every single day * Sunday Express * Dr Dorward describes, with sensitivity and acute insight, the ethical and emotional dilemmas doctors face every day. * The Daily Mail *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Illustrations
None
Dimensions
Height: 129 mm
Width: 197 mm
Thickness: 23 mm
Weight
244 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-4729-4394-1 (9781472943941)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
E-Book
05/2018
1st Edition
Green Tree
€9.49
Available for download
E-Book
05/2018
1st Edition
Green Tree
€9.49
Available for download
Person
Dr. Peter Dorward grew up in St Andrews, Scotland. Having worked for a number of years as a doctor in Bolivia, Nicaragua, Belize and London, he is now a GP and medical teacher based in Edinburgh. He is an award-winning author of short stories and screenplays. His novel Nightingale was published in 2007 by Two Ravens Press.
Content
Introduction: A Private Garden
I Just Want to Help you to Die
The Problem of Alicia's Smile
How to be Good
The Real Karlo Pistazja
The Words to Say It
Shangalang
Three Views of a Mountain
Opiates are the Opiate of the People: Part 1
When Darkness Falls
The Ghost in the Machine
Opiates are the Opiate of the People: Part 2
Notes on sources
Acknowledgements
I Just Want to Help you to Die
The Problem of Alicia's Smile
How to be Good
The Real Karlo Pistazja
The Words to Say It
Shangalang
Three Views of a Mountain
Opiates are the Opiate of the People: Part 1
When Darkness Falls
The Ghost in the Machine
Opiates are the Opiate of the People: Part 2
Notes on sources
Acknowledgements