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Incidental Findings: Lessons from My Patients in the Art of Medicine
In Singular Intimacies, which the New England Journal of Medicine said captured the "essence of becoming and being a doctor," Danielle Ofri led us into the hectic, constantly challenging world of big-city medicine. In Incidental Findings, she's finished her training and is learning through practice to become a more rounded healer. The book opens with a dramatic tale of the tables being turned on Dr. Ofri: She's had to shed the precious white coat and credentials she worked so hard to earn and enter her own hospital as a patient. She experiences the real "slight prick and pressure" of a long needle as well as the very real sense of invasion and panic that routinely visits her patients.
These fifteen intertwined tales include "Living Will," where Dr. Ofri treats a man who has lost the will to live, and she too comes dangerously close to concluding that he has nothing to live for; "Common Ground," in which a patient's difficult decision to have an abortion highlights the vulnerabilities of doctor and patient alike; "Acne," where she is confronted by a patient whose physical and emotional abuse she can't possibly heal, so she must settle on treating the one thing she can, the least of her patient's problems; and finally a stunning concluding chapter, "Tools of the Trade," where Dr. Ofri's touch is the last in a woman's long life.
These fifteen intertwined tales include "Living Will," where Dr. Ofri treats a man who has lost the will to live, and she too comes dangerously close to concluding that he has nothing to live for; "Common Ground," in which a patient's difficult decision to have an abortion highlights the vulnerabilities of doctor and patient alike; "Acne," where she is confronted by a patient whose physical and emotional abuse she can't possibly heal, so she must settle on treating the one thing she can, the least of her patient's problems; and finally a stunning concluding chapter, "Tools of the Trade," where Dr. Ofri's touch is the last in a woman's long life.
192 pages, Paperback
First published April 15, 2004
12 people are currently reading
436 people want to read
About the author
Danielle Ofri
32 books309 followersWhen I started medical school, I had no idea that I would become a writer. I'd completed a PhD in the biochemistry of endorphin receptors, and planned to become a bench scientist with a once-a-week clinic to see patients.
But during residency, I fell in love with patient-care, and realized that I'd have to put bench research aside. After three years of training, I took off some time to travel. I spent 18 months on the road, working occasional medical temp-jobs to earn money, and then exploring Latin America for as long as my money would last.
It was during these travels, during this first true break from medicine, that I started writing down the stories of my medical training at Bellevue Hospital. I had no intentions about a book, or publishing at all, but I just needed to unload some of the stories that had built up over the years.
When I came back to medical practice, writing kept itself going in my life. Then I helped found the Bellevue Literary Review, which was another way to incorporate literature into medicine. Now, my time is split between clinical medicine, teaching, writing, editing, my newest hobby--cello, (and of course my three wonderful children!).
But during residency, I fell in love with patient-care, and realized that I'd have to put bench research aside. After three years of training, I took off some time to travel. I spent 18 months on the road, working occasional medical temp-jobs to earn money, and then exploring Latin America for as long as my money would last.
It was during these travels, during this first true break from medicine, that I started writing down the stories of my medical training at Bellevue Hospital. I had no intentions about a book, or publishing at all, but I just needed to unload some of the stories that had built up over the years.
When I came back to medical practice, writing kept itself going in my life. Then I helped found the Bellevue Literary Review, which was another way to incorporate literature into medicine. Now, my time is split between clinical medicine, teaching, writing, editing, my newest hobby--cello, (and of course my three wonderful children!).
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Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews
January 31, 2008
This is great reading for any new physician! After losing the "humane" part of medicine during training, this book reminded me why I started the long journey in the first place.
June 1, 2023
این کتاب به درک بهتر پزشکان و کادر درمان نسبت به احساسات بیماران کمک میکند. اینکه بدانیم بیماری که در مقابل ما قرار دارد چندان با ما متفاوت نیست و همه ما یکسانیم، نیاز به بصیرت و بینش بالایی دارد. ما اغلب نمیخواهیم قبول کنیم با بیمارانمان چندان تفاوتی نداریم، چرا که ترسی در ما ایجاد میشود که ممکن است هر لحظه در جایگاه بیمار باشیم.
خواندن کتابهای دکتر افری را در جهت افزایش همدلی و درک بهتر بیماران توصیه میکنم.
خواندن کتابهای دکتر افری را در جهت افزایش همدلی و درک بهتر بیماران توصیه میکنم.
May 17, 2021
This is a wonderful, humane account of Ofri's process of becoming a physician. Exactly what I was looking for: an exploration of the meeting of self with the vast need one encounters in working with patients in a variety of contexts.
June 2, 2024
"Incidental Findings: Lessons from My Patients in the Art of Medicine" by Danielle Ofri
In this book Ofri narrates her experiences of being a physician and a patient as well. By sitting in the seat of the patient, she becomes able to better understand what a patient feels and therefore she transcends giving routine medical cares and pays more attention towards humane parts of medicine which aren't much discussed in medical discourse.
In other words, she helps the physicians to decrease their distance with their patients.
In this book Ofri narrates her experiences of being a physician and a patient as well. By sitting in the seat of the patient, she becomes able to better understand what a patient feels and therefore she transcends giving routine medical cares and pays more attention towards humane parts of medicine which aren't much discussed in medical discourse.
In other words, she helps the physicians to decrease their distance with their patients.
July 10, 2014
In an instance of why judging a book by its cover would be wrong, I nearly didn't purchase this book when I saw it at the store. The author bears a strong resemblance to a couple professors I knew in college who were still living in the hippie mindset, and coupled with the title's reference to the 'art of medicine', I was concerned she was a new age practitioner who would be talking about her unconventional methods of doctoring. However, it couldn't be farther from the truth, and is one of the better physician autobiographies I read in a long time.
As she notes at the end of the book (don't worry, not a spoiler), some of the stories she tells were written in real time, as she was actually seeing and treating the patients she refers to. Might be the first such book where the patients contribute to the editing. Ofri is normally a clinic physician, so I'd say about 3/4 of the stories are about the patients she sees from all walks of life, on an outpatient basis, while the others are patients she sees on her month long stints covering an inpatient unit at Bellevue Hospital in New York. Not all of the outpatient stories come from her New York clinic, as there are some from the early part of the book when she was trying to figure out where to settle down and did fill-in work in doctor's offices very different from the multicultural, often low-income population she sees at Bellevue. There are also some reflections from her days as a doctor in training as they apply to the current patient whose stories she is telling.
Overall, I thought it was a very well-balanced book, which begins and ends with Ofri's own experience as a patient in her medical network when she was expecting her first child and some of the chapters also include related stories about her family members when they parallel a work experience. While I of course wish it was longer, I didn't get the feeling of incompleteness I sometimes feel after reading a book that could be twice as long as it actually is. Perhaps it's because she alludes to her first book a couple times, one I'm sure to read, if I haven't already.
As she notes at the end of the book (don't worry, not a spoiler), some of the stories she tells were written in real time, as she was actually seeing and treating the patients she refers to. Might be the first such book where the patients contribute to the editing. Ofri is normally a clinic physician, so I'd say about 3/4 of the stories are about the patients she sees from all walks of life, on an outpatient basis, while the others are patients she sees on her month long stints covering an inpatient unit at Bellevue Hospital in New York. Not all of the outpatient stories come from her New York clinic, as there are some from the early part of the book when she was trying to figure out where to settle down and did fill-in work in doctor's offices very different from the multicultural, often low-income population she sees at Bellevue. There are also some reflections from her days as a doctor in training as they apply to the current patient whose stories she is telling.
Overall, I thought it was a very well-balanced book, which begins and ends with Ofri's own experience as a patient in her medical network when she was expecting her first child and some of the chapters also include related stories about her family members when they parallel a work experience. While I of course wish it was longer, I didn't get the feeling of incompleteness I sometimes feel after reading a book that could be twice as long as it actually is. Perhaps it's because she alludes to her first book a couple times, one I'm sure to read, if I haven't already.
November 5, 2013
Dr. Ofri may not have House’s attitude or Meredith Grey’s love life, but she captures the drama of the hospital as well as any Hollywood scriptwriter. Told in mostly chronological vignettes, Dr. Ofri shares with us the trials and tribulations of the patients she meets while working her way from intern to attending. She takes us into the lives of patients from all walks of life—immigrant workers, famed academics, and even her own time as a patient during the birth of her first child. Ofri is a remarkable storyteller from both the doctor and the patient perspective and through these stories the reader understands the empathy she has towards her patients and fellow medical professionals.
Incidental Findings doesn’t take a hard look at the failings of the medical industry, nor does it introduce the latest medical research or retell the story of an amazing medical discovery. Instead, Incidental Findings reminds us not to forget that every patient has a story and, in a teaching hospital like Bellevue, it’s not the doctors who are doing all the teaching.
Dr. Danielle Ofri is an attending physician at Bellevue Hospital, an associate professor at the New York University School of Medicine, and author and founder of the Bellevue Literary Review. Incidental Findings: Lessons From My Patients in the Art of Medicine is her second book.
Incidental Findings doesn’t take a hard look at the failings of the medical industry, nor does it introduce the latest medical research or retell the story of an amazing medical discovery. Instead, Incidental Findings reminds us not to forget that every patient has a story and, in a teaching hospital like Bellevue, it’s not the doctors who are doing all the teaching.
Dr. Danielle Ofri is an attending physician at Bellevue Hospital, an associate professor at the New York University School of Medicine, and author and founder of the Bellevue Literary Review. Incidental Findings: Lessons From My Patients in the Art of Medicine is her second book.
June 28, 2011
An excellent collection of "lessons" a doctor can learn from her patients. Definitely reminded me of Oliver Sacks, but with more on the workings inside a doctor's mind. I love her focus on the human story beyond the medical symptoms. Companion article: http://thechart.blogs.cnn.com/2011/01....
My favorite chapters are the ones that describe the regular day in the hospital, and of course "SAT". Ofri does a wonderful job of describing the ethical decisions a doctor has to make all the time. Should more time be spent with patient A than patient B? Should a patient receive medication every time they ask for it? And who gets to make these decisions?
My favorite chapters are the ones that describe the regular day in the hospital, and of course "SAT". Ofri does a wonderful job of describing the ethical decisions a doctor has to make all the time. Should more time be spent with patient A than patient B? Should a patient receive medication every time they ask for it? And who gets to make these decisions?
March 20, 2012
Danielle Ofri writes movingly about people from many countries, who, like most of us at some time in our lives, become patients of the medical system. As a doctor in the USA medical system, her stories are about immigrants to that country who not only have to deal with their medical condition and all that goes along with getting treatment for it, but have to find their way through the cultural complexities of simply living in the USA. "Cross-cultural" medicine and health care generally is a massive and difficult topic, and Ofri's very personal stories about her own connections as a doctor to her other-cultural patients make an important and very readable contribution to this area.
March 13, 2016
Ofri examines all the parts of being a medical doctor that disturb her in the series of essays that make up this book. Why do doctors ignore the parts of life of their patients that take place outside the hospital? What is true about the details patients report to their doctors? How does a doctor determine what is true? What can a doctor do to treat a patient when the life elements that need treating lie beyond the realm of medicine?
April 5, 2018
Insights about illness from a doctor's perspective
Ofri's collection of essays is best when it describes the intricacies of a patient's symptoms, especially when there are cultural or language differences. Where the book doesn't shine is the slightly too often self-aggrandizement, the reinforcement of doctor-as-omniscient myth that many people believe. Perhaps an essay devoted to a misdiagnosis or other lapse in judgment could have humanized the author a bit more.
Ofri's collection of essays is best when it describes the intricacies of a patient's symptoms, especially when there are cultural or language differences. Where the book doesn't shine is the slightly too often self-aggrandizement, the reinforcement of doctor-as-omniscient myth that many people believe. Perhaps an essay devoted to a misdiagnosis or other lapse in judgment could have humanized the author a bit more.
December 31, 2013
This is a wonderful book on so many levels. The humour, observations, and honesty made me stop and reflect on the interactions I have with different people and the incidental findings I have had over the years. Even if you don't work in health-care and have never been a patient, this book will give you lots to think about.
November 14, 2014
Very well-written account of some of the insights Dr. Ofri has gained from her patients and by being a patient herself (tables turned). It focuses largely on the human condition, particularly among the marginalized, and on medicine in a big teaching hospital. I enjoyed reading it, hope to read more of her work.
September 17, 2016
I have expected something else... something different than some stories about unfortunate people that make a doctor reconsider his/her privileged position...
I have little knowledge about doctors and medicine in the US, but this book does not give me a good feeling. Dr. Ofri humanity and kindness towards her patients seem like personal options, something that she learned, not something natural.
I have little knowledge about doctors and medicine in the US, but this book does not give me a good feeling. Dr. Ofri humanity and kindness towards her patients seem like personal options, something that she learned, not something natural.
June 21, 2012
Interesting essays on being a doctor in various venues. Bellevue Hospital in New York City is her home hospital, so that is always good for drama. The essays usually dealt with one particular patient at a time and gave insight as to how the doctor reacts to common patient concerns.
March 2, 2017
I encountered Danielle ofri listening to a moth podcast.I so enjoyed her story of her early medical training at Bellevue.then I found out she wrote books..this was wonderful..so full of insights, .humor and truths about Dr/patient relationships
May 20, 2018
Whether you are a healer, doctor, social justice advocate ...
Whether you are a healer, doctor, social justice advocate, this book has words and concepts that can focus your awareness; give pause for pondering; and help you explore choices in your circle of life.
Whether you are a healer, doctor, social justice advocate, this book has words and concepts that can focus your awareness; give pause for pondering; and help you explore choices in your circle of life.
March 1, 2007
first-hand, real stories. great book. some good quotes, and some deep insights about women in medicine.
June 21, 2008
Gives a good perspective if you're going into medicine
February 16, 2010
I love Danielle's "voice" I think she really captures the doctor patient relationship but also lets you get a glimpse of the struggles, dilemmas and support a caring doctor might provide.
July 8, 2011
Interesting book especially if you are considering in going into the field of medicine.
December 17, 2012
More fascinating medical stories from Ofri.
July 19, 2019
Well written and poetic.
November 8, 2019
I love Danielle Ofri's first book, so looked forward to reading this one. Her writing style was just as good but the chapters were much more like very short essays. I didn't get the involvement in the personal story that I wanted. Just as I was getting captivated it ended. Also some of the chapters were so laden with metaphors that it grated a little.
June 12, 2020
This is a well-written and fascinating book, with chapters telling about different aspects of the author's work in a teaching hospital in New York.
June 30, 2015
Dr. Ofri may not have House’s attitude or Meredith Grey’s love life, but she captures the drama of the hospital, from both the doctor and the patient perspective, as well as any Hollywood scriptwriter.
Told in mostly chronological vignettes, Dr. Ofri shares with us the trials and tribulations of the patients she meets while working her way from intern to attending. She takes us into the lives of patients from all walks of life, immigrant workers, famed academics, and even her own time as a patient during the birth of her first child. It is through these stories, and Ofri’s knack for storytelling that we see the empathy she brings with her to every patient.
Incidental Findings doesn’t take a hard look at the failings of the medical industry, nor does it introduce the latest medical research or retell the story of an amazing medical discovery. Instead, Incidental Findings reminds us not to forget that every patient has a story and, in a teaching hospital like Bellevue, it may not be just the doctors doing the teaching.
Told in mostly chronological vignettes, Dr. Ofri shares with us the trials and tribulations of the patients she meets while working her way from intern to attending. She takes us into the lives of patients from all walks of life, immigrant workers, famed academics, and even her own time as a patient during the birth of her first child. It is through these stories, and Ofri’s knack for storytelling that we see the empathy she brings with her to every patient.
Incidental Findings doesn’t take a hard look at the failings of the medical industry, nor does it introduce the latest medical research or retell the story of an amazing medical discovery. Instead, Incidental Findings reminds us not to forget that every patient has a story and, in a teaching hospital like Bellevue, it may not be just the doctors doing the teaching.
January 27, 2011
I'm a sucker for medical memoirs :) This one was pretty good.
January 28, 2013
cliche insights at times, but the writing is fine and the stories interesting enough.
Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews