“People come to us for help. They come for health and strength.” With these simple words David Mendel begins Proper Doctoring, a book about what it means (and takes) to be a good doctor, and for that reason very much a book for patients as well as doctors—which is to say a book for everyone. In crisp, clear prose, he introduces readers to the craft of medicine and shows how to practice it. Discussing matters ranging from the most basic—how doctors should dress and how they should speak to patients—to the taking of medical histories, the etiquette of examinations, and the difficulties of diagnosis, Mendel moves on to consider how the doctor can best serve patients who suffer from prolonged illness or face death. Throughout he keeps in sight the fundamental moral fact that the relationship between doctor and patient is a human one before it is a professional one. As he writes with characteristic concision, “The trained and experienced doctor puts himself, or his nearest and dearest, in the patient’s position, and asks himself what he would do if he were advising himself or his family. No other advice is acceptable; no other is justifiable.”
Proper Doctoring is a book that is admirably direct, as well as wise, witty, deeply humane, and, frankly, indispensable.
QUOTES
David Mendel was an exceptionally talented individual, a polymath whose career was never confined to his profession of cardiology…As skilled with his tongue and pen as he was with a stethoscope … Mendel was a superlative teacher of medical students … His informal and easy style of writing did not disguise the wisdom and humanity of the content.
—Desmond Julian, The Independent (UK)
Proper Doctoring is a gem for physicians, future physicians, and clinicians of all types. Written in small paragraphs, it presents advice to practitioners, much like the old fashioned homily, and contains many brief examples and aphorisms…. The reviewer recommends the book for its grace, honesty, and integrity.
—American Psychological Association
A remarkable collection of observations, aphorisms, and grandfatherly advice.
—Annals of Internal Medicine
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