Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:
In his acclaimed memoir Intern , Sandeep Jauhar chronicled the formative years of his residency at a prestigious New York City hospital. Doctored , his New York Times bestselling harrowing follow-up, observes the crisis of American medicine through the eyes of an attending cardiologist.
Hoping for the stability he needs to start a family, Jauhar accepts a position at a massive teaching hospital on the outskirts of Queens. With a decade's worth of elite medical training behind him, he is eager to settle down and reap the rewards of countless sleepless nights. Instead, he is confronted with sobering truths. Doctors' morale is low and getting lower. Blatant cronyism determines patient referrals, corporate ties distort medical decisions, and unnecessary tests are routinely performed in order to generate income. Meanwhile, a single patient in Jauhar's hospital might see fifteen specialists in one stay and still fail to receive a full picture of his actual condition.
Provoked by his unsettling experiences, Jauhar has written an introspective memoir that is also an impassioned plea for reform. With American medicine at a crossroads, Doctored is the important work of a writer unafraid to challenge the establishment and incite controversy.
"A memoir-expose of the health-care system by a cardiologist and much-praised author"--Provided by publisher.
Reviews provided by Syndetics
Library Journal Review
A follow-up to Intern: A Doctor's Initiation, medical doctor and New York Times contributor Jauhar's latest is part memoir and part denunciation of America's current health-care system. Reflecting on his career at midlife, Jauhar is surprised at the physician he has grown into: disaffected and disillusioned, with a sense of loss of core ideals and enthusiasm for his work. And he isn't alone; he argues that there is a collective ambivalence within the medical community. Supporting his perspective, much of the book is composed of anecdotes of encounters he experienced during his career as a cardiologist. Citing instances related to malpractice insurance precautions, for-profit research companies, and hospital bottom lines, the author concludes that these factors have contributed to the overall bureaucratic and emotionless modern health-care environment. He argues that ultimately it is the American health-care landscape that is contributing to the ineffectiveness of the current state of patient care and that physicians have to sacrifice the intimacy of patient interactions to satisfy economic interests. VERDICT Written in a narrative, reflective style, this is a compelling depiction of the current state of health care and elicits a call to action by health professionals. Recommended for consumer-health enthusiasts, health-care workers, and medical-treatment policymakers.-Carolann Curry, Mercer Univ. Lib., Macon, GA (c) Copyright 2014. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Booklist Review
When I look at my career at midlife, I realize that in many ways I have become the kind of doctor I never thought I'd be: impatient, occasionally indifferent, at times dismissive or paternalistic, writes cardiologist Jauhar. Also the author of Intern: A Doctor's Initiation (2009), Jauhar is mired in a middle-age slump and midcareer crisis. He believes the medical profession is in a mess, too. He is frustrated by a maze of bureaucracy, pressured to see more patients in less time, and longing for autonomy that has mostly evaporated. He blasts the increasing commercialization of medicine along with overtesting and excessive referrals to specialists. Jauhar is candid but comes across as disgruntled and depressed. He is constantly on edge. His memoir is sprinkled with brief stories about patients on the precipice individuals standing with one foot on a banana peel. At times whiny, Jauhar's narrative provides a grim picture of modern medicine and the plight of contemporary physicians. And do not forget the domino effect: Unhappy doctors make for unhappy patients. --Miksanek, Tony Copyright 2014 Booklist
Kirkus Book Review
The further education of a doctor.Cardiologist Jauhar (Intern: A Doctors Initiation,2007) was nearing middle age and finding himself ever more impatient, indifferent, dismissive and paternalisticeverything he had abhorred in his idealistic youthand his sense of integrity gnawed at him, as did the demands of his job. What will come as a surprise to many readers is that doctors, too, worry about their incomes, which arent close to Midas pocket change. Granted, its far more than many of us earn, but for many doctors, moonlighting helps pay the insurance coverage. When Jauhar had embarked on his medical school training, he had visions of entitlement dancing in his headThey made more money and earned more respect than just about any other profession; Doctors largely set their own hours and determined their own feesbut that was then; now he finds himself an overworked, underpaid cardiologist at a Long Island hospital. Although income issues come to dominate the book, Jauhar shows flashes of warmth and connectionAt one time, keen observation and the judicious laying on of hands were virtually the only diagnostic tools a doctor had. Today they seem almost obsoleteand he writes with a nitty-gritty appreciation for hard work as he wrestles with moral quandaries and struggles to keep everythinghome and workintact. At times, the author seems to be arguing with the devil on his shouldershady big pharma money, collegial back-scratching, pure fraud in the ordering of excessive testingas he strives to meet his quota of Relative Value Unitsi.e., the values insurers place on medical services.A medical story about the loss of ideals and the corrections to course one makes as midlife and its responsibilities arrive, with insights into the overly complicated and often fraudulent state of health care today. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.