Healing Through Empathy: An Expanded Edition

Physicians have been known as healers long before they could provide cures for common ailments, but the art of healing is rarely found in the current era of managed care and five-minute office visits patients cry out for a physician who "cares," someone who will take the time to listen to their complaints. In Healing Through Empathy, Dr. Francis Adams illustrates the vital importance of the doctor-patient relationship through eight of his patients' histories. In these life stories Dr. Adams describes the role of empathy in this vital relationship and illustrates how a physician's emotional response to his patient's illness may educate him rather than blur his thinking. Healing Through Empathy allows the reader to see into the mind of one physician as he seeks the best outcome for his patients' problems. Dr. Adams offers suggestions for choosing a physician, and challenges physicians and managed care institutions to restore the balance between technology and the art of medicine. From ForeWord Clarion Review: "The author's straightforward writing style and personal warmth allow lay readers to easily absorb this book's message. In accessible language, Adams details the fine points of how lung diseases progress and the ways in which the human body reacts physically. This book will be welcomed by those who seek more personalized health care, for loved ones or themselves, in times of serious illness. New doctors would benefit from reading it before they begin medical practice."