With family doctors increasingly overburdened, bureaucratized, and burned out, how can the field change before it's too late? Over the past few decades, as American medical practice has become increasingly specialized, the number of generalists—doctors who care for the whole person—has plummeted. On paper, family medicine sounds noble; in practice, though, the field is so demanding in scope and substance, and the health system so favorable to specialists, that it cannot be fulfilled by most doctors. In Searching for the Family Doctor, Timothy J. Hoff weaves together the early history of the family practice specialty in the United States with the personal narratives of modern-day family doctors. By formalizing this area of practice and instituting specialist-level training requirements, the originators of family practice hoped to increase respect for generalists, improve the pipeline of young medical graduates choosing primary care, and, in so doing, have a major positive impact on the way patients receive care. Drawing on in-depth interviews with fifty-five family doctors, Hoff shows us how these medical professionals have had their calling transformed not only by the indifferent acts of an unsupportive health care system but by the hand of their own medical specialty—a specialty that has chosen to pursue short- over long-term viability, conformity over uniqueness, and protectionism over collaboration. A specialty unable to innovate to keep its membership cohesive and focused on fulfilling the generalist ideal. The family doctor, Hoff explains, was conceived of as a powered-up version of the "country doctor" idea. At a time when doctor-patient relationships are evaporating in the face of highly transactional, fast-food-style medical practice, this ideal seems both nostalgic and revolutionary. However, the realities of highly bureaucratic reimbursement and quality-of-care requirements, educational debt, and ongoing consolidation of the old-fashioned independent doctor's office into corporate health systems have stacked the deck against the altruists and true believers who are drawn to the profession of family practice. As more family doctors wind up working for big health care corporations, their career paths grow more parochial, balkanizing the specialty. Their work roles and professional identities are increasingly niche-oriented. Exploring how to save primary care by giving family doctors a fighting chance to become the generalists we need in our lives, Searching for the Family Doctor is required reading for anyone interested in the troubled state of modern medicine.

"Being governor is like no other job although it has similarities to being a country doctor. Like a physician, a governor is on call 24 hours a day, seven days a week, asleep, awake, eating, in the shower, traveling in a car, or at a meeting. There are emergencies, so he lives with unpredictability. As earlier noted, many state government activities involve health and medical questions, areas in which I have expertise. There, the similarities end. There is nothing like being governor, not even being a member of a president's Cabinet."—from Doc No Indiana governor in the 20th century has been more popular or successful than Otis R. Bowen. In his long-awaited autobiography, "Doc" writes in rich detail about the hard work and persistence that got him into and through medical school. His commitment to serving people made him a beloved family physician in Bremen, a respected state legislator and legislative leader, and one of the most esteemed governors in Indiana history. Otis Bowen grew up poor in Fulton County, but was rich in the things that matter. With the support of his parents, siblings, teachers and friends, he pursued a dream of becoming a family physician, making many sacrifices to finance his way through medical school As a newly minted doctor, Bowen first practiced medicine in the Army. He describes his experience on the field of combat in the Pacific during the last major battle of World War II, and tells of his life after coming home from the war to serve the medical needs of a small northern Indiana community. We learn, too, of his personal life, about his own family and his first two wives, Beth Bowen and Rose Bowen, the loneliness and emptiness he endured after they died painfully of cancer, and how his third wife, Carol, has filled that void. An almost accidental entry into politics and public life led Bowen to the capitals of Indiana and the nation. Drafted as a candidate for Marshall County coroner in 1952, Bowen moved up from that office to become a member of the Indiana House of Representatives, to House leadership as Minority Leader and Speaker, to the governor's office in 1973, and to President Ronald Reagan's cabinet in 1985. The first person to serve eight consecutive years as Indiana's Governor, Bowen candidly explores the challenges, crises and triumphs of that period. In an equally candid way, he recounts his efforts and frustrations as Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. As warm, down-to-earth, and genuine as its subject, Doc will be welcomed by all Hoosiers, no matter their political stripe.

Family Medicine: Principles and Practice is a comprehensive reference text providing clear guidelines for diagnosing and managing acute and chronic illnesses regularly seen in family practice. The sixth edition will follow the format successfully established with the fourth edition. In addition, it will include new chapters on: Herbal Medicine, Hospitalist Medicine, Telemedicine, Evidence-Based Medicine, Osteopathic Medicine, Effective Office Management. Also, a whole new section on The Future of Family Medicine will be added. All chapters will be completely updated and with new clinical guidelines and references. Websites will be included in the references as well.

A cardiologist and his patient tell a true story of surviving and thriving, in a book both informational and inspirational. After Michael Ranville’s emergency treatment, his cardiologist told him: Given the nature and severity of your heart attack, you should no longer be with us. Statistically, you are dead. Now, the doctor and patient unite to present a unique story for the benefit of heart patients—or anyone who has a heart. A generation ago, heart patients rarely defied the statistical category that dictated a sedentary existence and an abbreviated life. But this is the tale of one patient who didn’t die. He continued to live, refused to take up membership in that statistical category. Under the thirty-year care of Dr. Michael James and a forward-leaning cardiac community, Michael Ranville and a host of other determined heart patients created a new statistical category. Life to the Years is also the lively, anecdote-laden story of a tenacious and resourceful cardiologist who helped Ranville seize control of life after heart disease. The authors illustrate the development of life-saving technology with fascinating stories that underscore the human element that still drives medicine. Life to the Years does not shy from the controversial, from the uncomfortable. A confrontation with mortality is the inevitable companion of heart disease. For the authors, the significance of dignity when faced with death—for both family and patient—is far from a theoretical discussion. This is a memoir that will both enlighten and encourage, and offer a behind-the-scenes look at a successful doctor-patient relationship.

With every passing year, the mutual mistrust between doctor and patient widens, as doctors retreat into resentment and patients become increasingly disillusioned with the quality of care. Rich in anecdote as well as science 'Doctors and Their Patients' describes how both have arrived at this sad shape.

If you want to help change medicine, give this book to your doctor.Hey, Doc!, the true story of Dr. Richard Sheff's personal journey through medical training as a family physician, shows us a new way to understand doctors (and ourselves as patients)."I knew then, as now, there is something terribly lacking in how we take care of patients and train physicians...Over two decades in medicine has taught me that the most potent tool for healing we as physicians have is our heart. But each of us must learn to listen to our own heart before we can touch and heal the hearts of our patients."While this book is a must read for anyone considering a career in medicine, Hey,Doc! speaks to the patient in all of us. Readers will understand their own doctor and come away with new hope that, when sick and most vulnerable, they can be heard, understood, and touched by their physician. Dr. Sheff teaches us the surprising truth that, in their hearts, doctors yearn for the same connection with us.