One Doctor

Close Calls, Cold Cases, and the Mysteries of Medicine

By: Brendan Reilly

Narrated by: Rob Shapiro

Length: 15 hrs and 7 mins

Publisher's summary

An epic story told by a unique voice in Ameri­can medicine, One Doctor describes life-changing experiences in the career of a distinguished physi­cian. In riveting first-person prose, Dr. Brendan Reilly takes us to the front lines of medicine today.

Whipsawed by daily crises and frustra­tions, Reilly must deal with several daunting challenges simultaneously: the extraordinary patients under his care on the teeming wards of a renowned teaching hospital; the life-threatening illnesses of both of his ninety-year-old parents; and the tragic memory of a cold case from long ago that haunts him still.

As Reilly's patients and their families survive close calls, struggle with heartrending decisions, and confront the limits of medicine's power to cure, One Doctor lays bare a fragmented, depersonal­ized, business-driven health-care system where real caring is hard to find.

Every day, Reilly sees patients who fall through the cracks and suffer harm because they lack one doctor who knows them well and relentlessly advocates for their best interests.

Filled with fascinating characters in New York City and rural New England-people with dark secrets, mysterious illnesses, impos­sible dreams, and many kinds of courage - One Doctor tells their stories with sensitivity and empathy, reminding us of professional values once held dear by all physicians.

But medicine has changed enormously during Reilly's career, for both better and worse, and One Doctor is a cautionary tale about those changes. It is also a hopeful, inspiring account of medicine's poten­tial to improve people's lives, Reilly's quest to understand the "truth" about doctoring, and a moving testament to the difference one doctor can make.

©2013 Brendan Reilly, M.D. (P)2014 Tantor

One of the best medical center books I’ve ever encountered

I’m not a doctor. But I worked as a registered nurse for many years in geriatric facilities. I remember having the same feelings of frustration of not being able to do more. The one satisfaction I had was that the people I was caring for had lived most of their lives. A lot of what I did was just to make their end months or years better. And that gave me a lot of comfort. But still, that feeling of never having done enough, Seems to always linger. Maybe it’s just a part of caring. But I certainly could relate to what I heard in this book.

Practical illustration of modern US health care

It is true, as some reviewers have already mentioned, that Dr. Reilly doesn't tell his story in a linear fashion, so the listener does need to pay close attention. Since he is dealing with multiple patients, it's hard to see exactly how he could have written it any other way... Because each story has background information without which it wouldn't be complete.

This book is worth any extra effort involved. It shows how a modern big city teaching hospital operates, and lets the reader understand the historical reasons why the system operates as it does (and how the for profit motive impacts US health care). It's always much better as a patient to go into that system armed with facts and understanding. Since everyone gets sick at some point, and everyone dies, this is the kind of information that is universally useful.

For readers of Atul Gawande's Being Mortal, this is a good complementary listen.

Very Underrated

There should be way more five star reviews. I can't believe anyone wouldn't be interested in hearing what he has to say. I really wasn't expecting it to be this good.

Regarding the reading: I thought I had the playback on less than 1x at first. The narrator reads an an unusually slow pace, but he is a good narrator despite this. I played it at 1.2x and it sounded normal.

All Americans should read this book!

Americans are getting screwed by the medical industrial complex....look at Europe...
If there is any logical sense in this country!

Great storytelling

This was very interesting….I do wish he came back to the couple from the first section to tell us what their story was!

Excellent book with lots of information. He is a

This is easy to understand and teaches much about medicine. I enjoyed this book and have read it several timrs.

Very Interesting

I learned about many things Doctors are faced with and what their thinking is like to solve many difficult decisions.

Incredibly Engrossing

Entertaining, informative, even suspenseful in it's way. The author does an excellent job of weaving past and present, personal and professional, and the voice of the narrator is perfect.

Excellent

Dr. Reilly's writing is top notch. On par with Atul Gwande. An added bonus is the absolutely captivating performance by the narrator. I found myself mesmerized by him at times. Highly recommended.

Great for students!

I'm a nursing student and this was a great read to remind me how to remember the importance of assessing the patient, not just relying on the machines for info, and also to keep my heart in the game! Wonderful story, great writing, highly recommend!