Progress Notes: One Year in the Future of Medicine

by Abraham M. Nussbaum

A groundbreaking approach to training doctors could transform the future of health care. For decades, physicians have been trained on the textbook of the body, from the corpse in a cadaver lab to the patient in a procedure suite. This type of training usually leads them to specialize in specific organs or systems and breeds an increasingly impersonal view of medicine in which the importance of person-to-person care―the hallmark of a good relationship between doctors and patients―has been lost. In this engrossing narrative, you'll meet seven extraordinary students who embarked on a new way to train doctors that attempts to regain what's been lost. These medical students follow patients instead of physicians, accompanying patients to primary care appointments, emergency room visits, and even surgical procedures, developing deep connections and understanding the intricate interplay between the health of our bodies and the health of our communities. They learn the textbook of a community in addition to the textbook of the body. Through poignant stories of these seven students and the people they meet as patients, Dr. Abraham M. Nussbaum illustrates the power of becoming a doctor and the possibility of changing the way we train doctors. As the students acquire a wealth of knowledge about the human body, they also navigate immense challenges and responsibilities. Throughout the year, they go about their lives, find love, and start families, all while getting to know their patients and their lives. Progress Notes follows the evolution of medical education and is a must-read for premedical students, medical students, and medical professionals seeking insight into the changing landscape of their field as well as for readers captivated by medical dramas and the pursuit of transformative care that benefits us all.

Genres: Medicine

400 pages, Hardcover

Published June 25, 2024

About the author

Abraham M. Nussbaum, M.D., is Director of the Denver Health Adult Inpatient Psychiatry Service, and Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Colorado School of Medicine.

Reviews

[Luc · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nussbaum recounts a crucial, crucial redesign in medical school, where a more holistic perspective of patients as individuals and as people embedded in diverse communities is centered from day one. This redesign is essential and deserves wider recognition (and adoption).

At the same time, I left this book unsure whether this is really this author's story to tell and take ownership of. Why was Jennifer Adams, for example, not writing this book as a leader of the program? Why was the emphasis so often skewed toward male "leaders" and figures in the discipline, as well as male bodies and male-relevant medical fields, despite having a GYN specialist as a main character? Why did the author take pains to ensure diverse main characters in race and ethnicity - yet any mention of LGBTQ+ peoples, or lower socioeconomic status peoples, were absent, despite the associated medical center (Denver Health) specializing in treating many such peoples?

[Katelyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nussbaum follows a small group of University of Colorado/Denver Health med students in their third year enrolled in Denver Health's LIC (Longitudinal Integrated Clerkship). This program, developed at Harvard, focuses their education on not just medicine, but the community that patients live in as well. Students follow patients throughout the year, regardless of where the patients are treated, to get a bigger picture of their lives. I'm fascinated by medical books about residency, doctors and nurses, and I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Nussbaum looks at how brutal and unhealthy a doctor's education is for students. I was interested in how this program is trying to change the decades-old way that med students learn, for the better.