Dr. Richard Feldman – “What Our Patients Have Taught Us”

June 24, 2024

I am fascinated by the power of narrative in medicine. And what better and enjoyable way to accomplish the goals of this book than by storytelling. After all, everyone loves a good story.

Narratives in the medical humanities literature almost always flow in the direction of how physicians enhance the health and wellbeing of their patients. But there is another perspective that I thought needed to be told: How patients positively influence and affect the physicians with whom they entrust their lives. It’s not a one-way street.  

What Our Patients Have Taught Us: Physicians Reflect on Lessons Learned about Life, Themselves, and Their Profession, recently published by the Indiana Historical Society Press, celebrates the richness of what patients bring to the doctor-patient relationship.

The essays relate how a specific patient enriched the life of his or her physician in some way through their interactions. Some stories recount how the patient inspired or touched the life of the physician. I was after what many physicians also shared – what they learned from a particular patient about life; career; themselves; even their flaws and shortcomings, and the human condition. It is a book about the development of warm relationships between patients and doctors. I wanted to remind the reader of the humanity that still exists in medicine.

Physicians are in a unique and privileged position. Patients come to us and share the most personal aspects of their lives. They share their loves, their joys, and their passions, but also disappointments, fears, tribulations, and even their secrets. Patients expose not only their physical wounds but their emotional wounds and scars as well. Pains that they may not share with another living soul.

Every patient has a story. And if doctors will only take the time to listen, patients may become their teachers of life’s lessons. Establishing meaningful connections with patients adds purpose and meaning to physicians’ careers and ultimately their lives. This is what I wanted to convey by writing this book.

This is a book that I could not write solely from my own personal experience. It necessitated additional contributions of 70 invited contributing authors, primarily physicians, resident physicians, medical students, and other healthcare professionals from both Indiana and across the nation. The result was a collection of more than 100 stories that were more inclusive and compelling, capturing a breadth and depth of experiences and perspectives.

A few sample chapters are available here. I hope that this work will remind physicians and other healthcare professionals of the true rewards of their professions and why they entered it. This reminder is essential in this time of rampant provider burnout. For the public, I hope that these stories will strengthen confidence in the humanity of physicians and others providing medical care in this time of progressive depersonalization in our healthcare system.

To purchase “What Our Patients Have Taught Us,” visit our online shopping site.

Dr. Richard Feldman is a lifelong Hoosier, a physician and medical administrator. He is also a frequent lecturer and columnist on many health-related topics and has been active on the boards of many nonprofit and cultural institutions. "What Our Patients Have Taught Us" builds on his previous book, "Family Practice Stories: Memories, Reflections, and Stories of Hoosier Family Doctors of the Mid-Twentieth Century."

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