Field of Medicine: Primary care.
Format: Softcover book. Trim size: 5.5 × 8.5 inches.
Recommended Readership: Anyone interested in knowing how much and why delivery of healthcare in America has changed over the past 60 years. Readers benefitting the most will be the young physicians and young patients who have no real experience with personal medicine—medicine characterized by a strong patient–doctor relationship.
Purpose: To show why a strong patient–doctor relationship must return to the center of our healthcare system in order to humanize treatment, help reduce unnecessary spending, and lead to a healthier, happier society.
Content: 366 pages of text divided into 6 parts, containing a total of 71 chapters.
The book also contains a 3-page table of contents, a 3-page preface, a 5-page introduction, a comprehensive 14-page index, a 35-page glossary for the lay reader, the author's 13-page curriculum vitae, a full-page diagram of the human heart, a list of 28 additional readings, an acknowledgment page, and a bit about the author and his son Bruce.
Strengths: The author's commitment to and compassion for his patients reverberates throughout this book. By using dozens of case anecdotes from his 60-year career as a personal-care cardiologist, he effectively illustrates how a strong patient–doctor relationship—the essence of personal medicine—brings joy and satisfaction to everyone involved. Relatively few physicians ever have such a long professional career, and even fewer ever document their experiences in a manner so clear and so detailed as Dr. Makous has.
Physical properties of the book also deserve credit. On the front cover are pictures of medical practice ranging from the horse-and-buggy days to the current world of body scanners; included is a snapshot of the author as a Lieutenant in the U.S. Navy, using his stethoscope to examine a patient. The pages of the book are of good stock with easy-to-read print, and selected cartoons and photographs provide spice and a touch of nostalgia.
Weaknesses: Everywhere in the text, certain words appear in bold when first mentioned—a signal that they are included in the glossary. This innovation creates distractions, because the boldfaced words always pop up suddenly, and often in the middle of a sentence. One could also question the need to include the author's extensive curriculum vitae. The book stands tall without it.
Overall Grade: ***½
Footnotes
Grading Key: ***** = outstanding; **** = excellent; *** = good; ** = fair; * = poor