An entirely new way to make the best medical decisions.
Making the right medical decisions is harder than ever. We are overwhelmed by information from all sides—whether our doctors’ recommendations, dissenting experts, confusing statistics, or testimonials on the Internet. Now Doctors Groopman and Hartzband reveal that each of us has a “medical mind,” a highly individual approach to weighing the risks and benefits of treatments. Are you a minimalist or a maximalist, a believer or a doubter, do you look for natural healing or the latest technology? The authors weave vivid narratives of real patients with insights from recent research to demonstrate the power of the medical mind. After reading this groundbreaking book, you will know how to arrive at choices that serve you best.
Jerome Groopman, MD, and Pamela Hartzband, MD, are on the faculty of Harvard Medical School and on the staff of Boston’s Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. They have collaborated on articles for The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and the New England Journal of Medicine.
Table of Contents
Introduction 1
1 Where Am I in the Numbers? 9
2 Believers and Doubters 31
3 But is it Best for Me? 49
4 Regret 69
5 Neighborly Advice 87
6 Autonomy and Coping 113
7 Decision Analysis Meets Reality 137
8 End of Life 153
9 When the Patient Can't Decide 185
Conclusion 211
Acknowledgments 219
Notes 223
Selected Bibliography 281
Index 301
What People are Saying About This
Jonathan Alter
"For anything that ails us--from high cholesterol to cancer--treatment options usually fall into a frustrating "gray area."Groopman and Hartzband provide a brilliant guide to navigating some of the most important decisions of our lives."
--(Jonathan Alter, author of The Promise: President Obama, Year One, columnist at Bloomberg View)
Dan Ariely
"Groopman and Hartzband have done a remarkable job at dissecting the external and internal factors that influence our healthcare decisions. This book should be required reading for doctors and patients alike."--(Dan Ariely, author of Predictably Irrational and The Upside of Irrationality, Professor of Behavioral Economics at Duke University)
Daniel Gilbert
"This important and riveting book could change—and perhaps even save—your life."--(Daniel Gilbert, author of Stumbling on Happiness, Professor of Psychology at Harvard University)
Sherwin B. Nuland
"Bringing the deep sensitivity and outstanding clinical skill that characterize all of his writings, Jerome Groopman has joined forces with Pamela Hartzband to bring us a message of wisdom and far-ranging importance. The complexities that face any patient in making personal medical decisions are here described, analyzed and clarified by two master physicians, who guide us with empathy, sincere caring and wide experience." --(Sherwin Nuland, author of How We Die: Reflections On Life's Final Chapter; Lecturer in Yale College and Retired Clinical Professor of Surgery.)
Ron Chernow
"At a time when health insurers, pharmaceutical companies, and government bureaucrats seek to find magical solutions in metrics and standardized care, Jerome Groopman and Pamela Hartzband remind us that medicine is a profoundly human---and hence inevitably complex---enterprise. By elucidating the often subtle and varied ways that patients make decisions, they will help to sharpen the thinking of any reader facing a medical situation, however grave or pedestrian. This utterly fascinating book, packed with gripping case studies, presents a timely and finely nuanced analysis of a hitherto overlooked subject." --(Ron Chernow, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Washington and Alexander Hamilton)
