Reading List for Websites
Stewart, M. A., (2004) Peterson’s Perfect Personal Statements 3rd EditionLaurence A. Savett, M.D.
Each of these books is a resource for my course, “Seminar in the Human Side of Medicine: Learning What It’s Like to be a Patient and What It’s Like to be a Physician, for undergraduates at the University of St. Thomas. All of these are in paperback. Intoxicated by My Illness and Medical Choices, Medical Chances are now out of print.
Especially recommended:
Savett, Laurence. The Human Side of Medicine: Learning What It’s Like to be a Patient and What It’s Like to be a Physician. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Publishing Group, 2002. A primary care internist describes in detail the human, non-technical part of medicine and how it can be taught. For pre-meds, medical students, patients, and nurses and others who work with physicians and patients.
Remen, Rachel Naomi. Kitchen Table Wisdom. New York: Riverhead Books, 1996; and My Grandfather’s Blessings. Stories of Strength, Refuge, and Belonging. New York: Riverhead Books, 2000. Using stories from her own practice, a physician who specializes in caring for patients with serious or chronic illness reflects on how she has used what she had learned from her experience in each new therapeutic relationship.
Scannell, Kate. Death of the Good Doctor, San Francisco: Cleis Press Inc., 1999. In a series of stories and essays, Dr. Scannell describes her experience on an in-patient AIDS ward and the many lessons she learned from her patients and their families.
Also recommended:
Broyard, Anatole. Intoxicated by My Illness. New York: Ballantine Books, 1992. The former editor of the New York Times Book Review section presentsan account of his own illness and reflects on the physician-patient relationship.
Bursztajn, Harold; Feinbloom, Richard; Hamm, Robert; and Brodsky, Archie. Medical Choices, Medical Chances. How Patients, Families, and Physicians Can Cope with Uncertainty. New York: Delacorte Press/Seymour Lawrence, 1981. The authors describe the importance of acknowledging uncertainty in medicine and strategies for dealing with it.
Coles, Robert. The Call of Stories. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1989. Dr. Coles, a psychiatrist, teaches Harvard undergraduates, medical and other graduate students about the lessons we can learn from listening to patients’—and each other’s—stories.
Colgrove, Melba; Bloomfield, Harold; and McWilliams, Peter. How to Survive the Loss of a Love. Los Angeles: Prelude Press, 1976. A physician, a psychologist and a poet present insights about loss for patients and for professionals and others involved in their care.
Fadiman, Anne. The Spirit Catches You And You Fall Down. New York: The Noonday Press, 1997. In presenting the story of the illness of a Hmong patient who has been inserted into the American medical culture, the author describes the consequences of the cultural clash for her and her family’s care.
Verghese, Abraham. My Own Country. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1994. A physician specializing in infectious diseases writes of his experience in caring for patients with AIDS in rural Tennessee and its impact on his personal life.
National Association of Advisors for the Health Professions, Inc. Health Professions Admission Guide: Strategy for Success (Seventh Edition, 2007)
The Health Professions Admissions Guide: Strategy for Success continues the tradition of providing detailed, up-to-date information on a variety of health professions. It begins with the initial questions students should ask when exploring these professions and continues through to the application procedure, giving helpful advice to increase chances of acceptance. Written and edited by a committee of experienced health professions advisors, and with the valuable contributions of the NAAHP Advisory Council members, the Health Professions Admissions Guide delineates a simple and effective strategy to approach the often complex process of applying to health professions schools.
Jackson, Evelyn W., Bardo, Harold R. Write for Success: Preparing a Successful Professional School Application (Third Edition, 2005)
Write for Success: Preparing a Successful Professional School Application is geared specifically to helping you write clearly for the tasks related to the health professions application process. Through the use of examples of both successful and unsuccessful applications, critical reviews of actual applications by three admissions deans, and experienced advice from the authors, Write for Success will help you to realize your dreams of matriculating into a health professional school.
National Association of Advisors for the Health Professions, Inc. Interviewing for Health Professions Schools (revised 2004)
This concise booklet provides a thorough overview of the interviewing process and the various steps that students can take to prepare well for it. Pulling together the experience of numerous advisors, and the thoughts and suggestions of several health professions schools admission deans, Interviewing for Health Professions Schools is a very useful document for advisors and students alike.
National Association of Advisors for the Health Professions, Inc. Meeting the Challenge of the MCAT: A Test Preparation Guide (Third Edition, 2006)
The authors' objectives are to persuade the student that preparing for and taking the MCAT are manageable tasks and, secondly, to provide some guidance on how to handle the tasks in an effective way. The authors hope to convince students to view the MCAT as a challenge they can meet. Students are encouraged to take control and expend the necessary efforts to ensure success.
Bibliography 10-0