Savett

At a time of great change in the technology and delivery of medical care, the timelessness and permanence of the non-technical aspects of medicine--the human side--are of profound value to patients and physicians alike. With more than 30 years of medical practice, teaching, advising, and mentoring medical students and undergraduates, Savett champions two premises: first, that the importance of physicians mastering the human side of medicine is as critical as learning its biology and technology; and second, that this can be taught. Attending to the human side refines diagnosis and treatment by recognizing the uniqueness of each patient’s experience, and it enriches the experience for all those in the caring professions. Physicians who have always put their patients’ interests first and never compromised their professional values have preserved their identity, vitality, and enthusiasm as caring doctors. This is a book about what keeps the practice of medicine stimulating: not fascinating cases, but fascinating people and relationships, the best reasons to enter medicine.

Learning the human side of medicine, asserts Savett, will help attract talented and compassionate people to the field. Full of stories and lessons, IThe Human Side of Medicine R is important reading for those considering a career in medicine and related professions, those already practicing--and patients.

LAURENCE A. SAVETT, M.D. practiced primary care internal medicine in Gloucester, Massachusetts, and St. Paul, Minnesota, for 30 years. Dr. Savett teaches about the psychological and social dimensions of medicine and the doctor-patient relationship at the University of Minnesota Medical School, where he is Clinical Professor of Medicine, and at Macalester College and the University of St. Thomas, where he helps advise pre-medical students and other pre-health professional students. He has served on the admissions committee of the University of Minnesota Medical School and the board of the Central Region of the National Association of Advisors for the Health Professions. He is a Fellow of the American College of Physicians.