How to Get the Right Diagnosis

16 Tips for Navigating the Medical System

By: Randolph H. Pherson

Narrated by: Tom Perkins

Length: 3 hrs and 42 mins

Publisher's summary

After five years and visits to 17 specialists who could not diagnose his illness, intelligence analyst Randolph Pherson's family doctor sent him to the emergency room because he had a "look of gloom" on his face. The ER doctors dismissed him twice, but he refused to go home, believing his condition was becoming dire. They acquiesced, scheduled him for a simple procedure, and told him he would drive himself home the next day. That did not happen. He was scheduled instead for major surgery the next morning that saved his life.

The author learned a lot about how the medical system operates in the United States over the five years of his sojourn. This book condenses what he learned into 16 actions a person can and should take to ensure quality health care. The author describes five analytic techniques to spur a correct diagnosis, five obstacles most people will need to overcome when seeking treatment, and six tips for building an effective partnership with your doctor.

The purpose of the book is to help others to live to tell their stories by applying the lessons learned during the author's journey by applying the techniques intelligence analysts use. The author is convinced that more people would have lived if they had adopted this advice and resisted current systemic pressures to treat illness and not diagnose them.

©2020 Randolph H. Pherson (P)2020 Tantor

Manual for life not just for medical

This is a book is helpful for your entire life not just for solving difficult medical issues.

The techniques in this book could be widely applied to all kinds of life situations.

The book was easy to read, The techniques will require some effort to master, but it will be well worth mastering them.

An exhausting privileged POV

I really tried with this one. I enjoy medical nonfiction of many types but -not- this. The book presents itself as a field manual for those traversing the US medical system. If you happen to be an independently wealthy, well connected man- these tactics may work.
If you don’t go running with your PCP or know the “allergist that treated 3 Presidents” this book will just be annoying.
There isn’t practical advice, just a rich guy pretending he “hacked” the system when, in fact, none of those techniques will help if you aren’t well connected and rich to begin with.
It was a fumblingly unaware “manual” written by someone clearly out of touch with how the world actually works for real people.
Imagine a medical book written by one of those presenters at conferences whose material never translates to practical use in the workplace. The ideas aren’t necessarily bad, they’re all unrealistic.
Just like those conference presenters, he uses every opportunity to tell you about ALLLL his cool stories that have nothing to do with the subject matter at hand.
If you’re rich, and run in the same circles as political power players, this book is exactly what your looking for