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Solid McPhee. Interesting technique to cover a dozen or so doctors instead of one. A shocking amount of smoking, but then again, it was 1983.
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Heirs of General Practice
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Heirs of General Practice is a frieze of glimpses of young doctors with patients of every age―about a dozen physicians in all, who belong to the new medical specialty called family practice. They are people who have addressed themselves to a need for a unifying generalism in a world that has become greatly subdivided by specialization, physicians who work with the "unquantifiable idea that a doctor who treats your grandmother, your father, your niece, and your daughter will be more adroit in treating you."
These young men and women are seen in their examining rooms in various rural communities in Maine, but Maine is only the example. Their medical objectives, their successes, the professional obstacles they do and do not overcome are representative of any place family practitioners are working. While essential medical background is provided, McPhee's masterful approach to a trend significant to all of us is replete with affecting, and often amusing, stories about both doctors and their charges.
These young men and women are seen in their examining rooms in various rural communities in Maine, but Maine is only the example. Their medical objectives, their successes, the professional obstacles they do and do not overcome are representative of any place family practitioners are working. While essential medical background is provided, McPhee's masterful approach to a trend significant to all of us is replete with affecting, and often amusing, stories about both doctors and their charges.
119 pages, Paperback
First published April 1,1986
This edition
- Format
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119 pages, Paperback
- Published
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April 1, 1986 by Farrar, Straus and Giroux
- ISBN
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9780374519742
- ASIN
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0374519749
- Language
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English
About the author
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John Angus McPhee is an American writer. He is considered one of the pioneers of creative nonfiction. He is a four-time finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in the category General Nonfiction, and he won that award on the fourth occasion in 1999 for Annals of the Former World (a collection of five books, including two of his previous Pulitzer finalists). In 2008, he received the George Polk Career Award for his "indelible mark on American journalism during his nearly half-century career". Since 1974, McPhee has been the Ferris Professor of Journalism at Princeton University.
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Rating(4 / 5.0, 43 votes)
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43 reviews All reviews
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I personally enjoyed the book because of the insights it gave me into family medicine in rural Maine. It did become tedious sometimes, where the author just lists off patient after patient, doctor after doctor without really giving a coherent message or theme. Much like a portrait, it focuses more on atmosphere and function than structure. (Last line paraphrasing a critique of Wong Kar Wai’s Fallen Angels lol.)
Recommend for those who want to know more about family/rural medicine!
Recommend for those who want to know more about family/rural medicine!
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The book is rather fragmented, as the author spends one paragraph to up to a few pages about a patient's visit to a GP. Thus it had a rather fragmented structure, so trying to read more than a dozen of pages at a time can get a bit tiring after a while.
However, because you can read a few paragraphs at a time without losing the plot, I think it is good for being used as an English reader for EFL learners. The stories are straightforward, and there are not too many difficult words except for the medical terms.
I am amazed at how well the GPs know their patients given that they have 2000 to 3000 families to care for. I think my class mistresses while I was at secondary school (like the book in the 80s) with a class size under 40, knew so much less about us.
However, because you can read a few paragraphs at a time without losing the plot, I think it is good for being used as an English reader for EFL learners. The stories are straightforward, and there are not too many difficult words except for the medical terms.
I am amazed at how well the GPs know their patients given that they have 2000 to 3000 families to care for. I think my class mistresses while I was at secondary school (like the book in the 80s) with a class size under 40, knew so much less about us.
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I received this book from a patient and ever so grateful. It offers a beautiful and (almost) timeless lens into the joys, complexities, rewards and struggles of Family Practice. I had to keep glancing at the year it was published. It’s soon to be a staple on my desk to revisit when I need a reminder of why I love what I do in Family Medicine.
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At a time when reading the news makes me horrified, and then more horrified, it was a great relief to read this book about doctors choosing to go into "family practice"--to choose to work in rural settings, treat the whole patient, and even make house calls. McPhee is careful not to mythologize these real people--they are not SuperDocs, but they are truly admirable human beings. And, of course, since he's a brilliant writer, McPhee has fun describing doctors and patients and adding the occasional clever spin, or twist, or joke. My favorite is this phrase
which sent me to Google in vain before I realized it was the medical equivalent of "born again."
...the town's other doctor wears a cross in his lapel and has personally been obstetricated twice.
which sent me to Google in vain before I realized it was the medical equivalent of "born again."
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A fun, often humorous, look into the need for family medicine. It follows about 12 doctors and shares why certain patient presentations would best be served by the family doc. I thought all in all it was a little hard to follow, but the topics made for a great book discussion. I think I would actually read it again one day, since it was such a short read and gets your mind thinking, especially if one is considering family Med. Last thought; very impressive how this book was written in the 80’s but the argument fits the current healthcare climate just as well.
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You guys, my dad is in this book!
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An excerpt of this book appeared in The New Yorker in 1984. That article was very influential for many of us in our early careers in family medicine. The book follows a group of new graduates of a family medicine program in the state of Maine as they engage in rural practice. At the time family medicine had the trappings of a 'movement' in medicine, vestiges of which continue to animate some of us in what is now the 'old guard'.
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