Doctored: The Disillusionment of an American Physician

A follow-up to Intern: A Doctor's Initiation, medical doctor and New York Times contributor Jauhar's latest is part memoir and part denunciation of America's current health-care system. Reflecting on his career at midlife, Jauhar is surprised at the physician he has grown into: disaffected and disillusioned, with a sense of loss of core ideals and enthusiasm for his work. And he isn't alone; he argues that there is a collective ambivalence within the medical community. Supporting his perspective, much of the book is composed of anecdotes of encounters he experienced during his career as a cardiologist. Citing instances related to malpractice insurance precautions, for-profit research companies, and hospital bottom lines, the author concludes that these factors have contributed to the overall bureaucratic and emotionless modern health-care environment. He argues that ultimately it is the American health-care landscape that is contributing to the ineffectiveness of the current state of patient care and that physicians have to sacrifice the intimacy of patient interactions to satisfy economic interests.