Viewing 13 medical cases through the eyes of two physicians during their internships and throughout their careers, this examination of Western medicine argues that doctors need to learn to deal more effectively and sensitively with medical and non-medical patient needs. Particular attention is paid to the knowledge doctors can gain from listening to their patients, and how that wisdom can be applied to help that patient as well as others. Anecdotes illustrate the wisdom of asking for help from colleagues, the role that intuition can play, and the positive power of hope.

"The doctor is seized by fear and runs as fast as he can from his hospital office to the MRI suite a few hundreds yards away. If he doesn't get there in time and stop the imaging test, his tattooed patient will likely die—and his fine medical reputation will be in jeopardy."

That's only one true story in this riveting book about the lessons two accomplished doctors learned from their patients. Life lessons. Life and death lessons. Lessons they never learned in medical school.