Physician: How Science Transformed the Art of Medicine

by Rajeev Kurapati

Readers Favorite Gold Medal AwardChanticleer International Book Awards--First Place WinnerRoyal Dragonfly Book Awards Winner--First Place in Science & TechnologySilver Medal Award--American Non-fiction Book AwardsForeword INDIES--HONORABLE Mention for HealthFinalist--USA BEST BOOK AWARDSWhat happened that changed the priest--the revered healer of antiquity--into a person of science? How was the modern doctor made? Physician is Rajeev Kurapati's earnest attempt to answer this question and others central to the practice of medicine. For instance, how have the advances of medical technology influenced society's perception of death? How do physicians balance thinking with feeling when dealing with critically ill patients? How do we meet the needs of patients seeking a personal connection to their doctor in what may seem to be an emotionally deficient medical landscape? Is it possible to overcome some of the compromises we've had to make along the way? What is the promise of modern medicine and its limitations? And notably--as medical care becomes more and more digitized and automated, will the medical degree--a universal badge of respectability--continue to hold value? Dr. Kurapati, a practicing hospital physician, succeeds in gracefully exploring the depths of what it really means to be a doctor--and a patient--at this time in our human history, and his blueprint for building a stronger future of healthcare is an important and valuable one.

Genres: Science, Nonfiction, Medical

324 pages, Kindle Edition

Published February 4, 2018

About the author

Rajeev Kurapati MD, MBA serves as the Medical Director of Integrative Oncology and as a Hospitalist at St. Elizabeth Healthcare, Kentucky. He is triple board certified from American Board of Family Medicine, American Board of Obesity Medicine and American Board of Lifestyle Medicine.

Dr. Kurapati completed medical training at Kilpauk Medical College, Chennai and at St. Elizabeth Family Medicine Residency, Kentucky. He obtained MBA from University of Missouri, Kansas City and is Fellowship trained in Integrative Medicine from Andrew Weil Center for Integrative Medicine, University of Arizona (class of 2023). He holds MA in Sanskrit from Hindu University of America.

Dr. Kurapati is also an award-winning author of:
1. Unbound Intelligence: A Personal Guide to Self-Discovery
2. Physician: How Science Transformed the Art of Medicine
3. Burnout in Healthcare
4. The Weight Loss Mantra: Understanding the Science Behind Weight Regain

His articles pertaining to medicine, culture, and lifestyle have been published in Slate Magazine, Cincinnati Enquirer, Medical Economics, Journal of KAFP, NKY Tribune, Mind Body Green, Life Hack, Millennial Magazine, KevinMD, the Yoga Blog, The Good Men Project, and other outlets.

AWARDS:
• Recipient of the Andrew Weil Center for Integrative Medicine Scholarship – 2021-23
• Honorable Mention in Los Angeles Book Festival – 2021 (Physician)
• First Place Winner — Chanticleer International Book Awards – 2019 (Physician)
• Silver Medal Award — Global eBook Award- 2019 (Physician)
• Silver Medal — North American Book Award – 2019 (Physician)
• Foreword INDIES — Honorable Mention for Health Category – 2018 (Physician)
• Royal Dragonfly Book Awards Winner — First Place in Science & Technology – 2018 (Physician)
• Readers Favorite Gold Medal Award – 2018 (Physician)
• Silver Medal Award — American Non-fiction Book Awards – 2018 (Physician)
• Winner of Pinnacle Book Achievement Award – 2015 (Unbound Intelligence)
• Winner of National Indie Excellence Award – 2014 (Unbound Intelligence)
• Gold Medal in Living Now Book Awards – 2014 (Unbound Intelligence)
• Finalist in USA Best Book Awards – 2014 (Unbound Intelligence)
• Finalist in the International Book Awards – 2014 (Unbound Intelligence)
• Finalist — USA Best Book Awards – 2014 (Unbound Intelligence)
• Honorable Mention in Paris Book Festival – 2014 (Unbound Intelligence), 2018 (Physician)
• Outstanding Teacher Award by Medical Residents – 2008

Reviews

[Hirdesh · Rating 5 out of 5]

REVIEW LATER.

[David Z Hirsch · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dr. Rajeev Kurapati writes an informative and well-researched book about the history of medicine and its place within the larger context of scientific advancement. The result is both a comprehensive and compassionate read that I thoroughly enjoyed.

Because medicine is both an art and a science, it lagged behind the advancement of other sciences, blindly following unproven theories and resisting numerical analysis for generations. We’d like to think this is no longer true, but the discussion of the Women’s Health Initiative on hormone replacement therapy served as an excellent modern example and particularly struck home with me. When the preliminary findings were published, I was a freshly minted doctor and I remember how humbling the experience was to question everything we physicians thought to be true.

Dr. Kurapati focuses the later part of his book on how medical practice has changed from healing the whole patient to treating individual diseases. He offers hope that future technology like biometrics and bioelectronics will transform the disease-centered approach to a more personalized approach. As someone who works in primary care and has to translate studies on populations to individual patients, I am hopeful his expectations will prove correct.

He ends with a section that should be required reading for all medical students and physicians in training. This book was great fun to read and an enlightening examination of what it means to be a healer. I expect that – unlike Michael Servetus – Rajeev Kurapati will not be roasted on a pyre of his own books anytime soon.

[Jamie Fuller · Rating 4 out of 5]

Author Dr. Kurapati does a fantastic job of exploring the origins of medicine and the way that the earliest healers were, by virtue of their times, their understandings and their societies, an amalgamation of healer, priest, and philosopher. The mental, emotional, social, spiritual and physical were all viewed as inextricably intertwined, and healers addressed them all in their assessments and care. 

Kurapati then does a phenomenal job of tracing the development of medicine,  the physicians who practice it, and the societies in which they lived in ways that illuminate the slow, often winding and back-switching path from that starting point to today, where science is not only king, but the only acceptable thing for most doctors to base their ideas and interactions with patients on. 

Along the way, he provides readers with a behind-the-scenes glimpse of the personal, social and spiritual costs of being a physician. By the end, he has deeply humanized the entire debating field about so many of today's biggest battles and most pressing questions and frustrations, including: 

the disconnect between patients and physicians (and the health care system as a whole)
the massive burn-out rate in medicine
insurance companies and their control over what care patients can receive
electronic medical records systems
the rise in supporting and alternative health professions and products
physician education
Even as someone who reads on these and related subjects often, I found Dr. Kurapati's take refreshing, informative and thought-provoking. I would recommend his book not only to people in the health professions but those in spiritual and political professions, as well as anyone who is involved or wishes to be involved in social activism of any kind, as its contents will equip them to act more clearly, insightfully and impactfully on behalf of all the parties involved, rather than contribute to the current quagmire that hinders us all.

[George Markoe · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found Dr. Kurapati's book to be most informative and interesting. Including an extensive history of medical practice from ancient times through the scientific revolution to the present, the author explained how we arrived at our present system of care, which often ignores the patient's humanity in the effort cure a disease and/or prolong life. A memorable quote is, “Over the past century, we've done a magnificent job of converting fatal disease into chronic conditions.” Emotional qualities, which often accompany and contribute to illness, are often ignored. As the author points out, a personalized relationship between doctor and patient is difficult with the third-party role of insurance companies, which make decisions regarding tests, services, and specialists a patient may see, and which demand mountains of paperwork. The driving force is cost. Another factor (which the author omitted) increasing health care costs includes malpractice insurance and possibility of lawsuits - physicians may sometimes “go overboard” in tests and treatment strategies to cover themselves, and this is expensive. However, the book ended on a hopeful note regarding future technology which will improve health care for both doctors and patients. One of my favorite sections was, “To My Fellow and Future Doctors,” which encouraged embracing technology while being mindful of and compassionate toward one's patients. Such care will enable all of us to navigate both the uncomfortable and inevitable.

[Candi S. · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Well into the 18th century, clergy were also physicians, mathematicians, and astronomers. What transformed the priest—the healer of antiquity—into a person of science? What transformed medicine into, as some say, a soulless profession? How was the modern doctor made?”

One would presume that these probing lines would be written by a philosopher or journalist observing and studying the aforementioned professions.

But here, you have a physician—a lyrical, curious and compassionate one in Rajeev Kurapati, MD. His focus on wellness and personal transformation is daring.

In his book, Physician: How Science Transformed the Art of Medicine, Kurapati goes where most doctors do not: into the heart-pounding narrative of patients and families..and beyond. He writes about medicine in relationships with ancient history, spirituality, psychology, culture, and technology. One of the extraordinary aspects of this book is the scope of research evident in rather smooth writing set off in chapters like "Intellectual Hibernation," "How Mathematicians Changed Medical Practice," and "The Utopia of Curing Death."

Kurapati captures present-day medicine as a profound force for change in that he encourages physicians to express their skills and perspectives more openly, even as the health marketplace forces doctors to squeeze in bedside visits to mere minutes to discern, diagnose and prescribe.

Care is commerce, but it doesn't necessarily have to be compromised. This book smartly professes it.

[Cathryn Wellner · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a topic that has long intrigued me. I have friends who are "alternative" practitioners. I have, over more than seven decades, been in conversation with far too many physicians. (I believe in continuity of care but have moved too much for that to be possible.)

Rarely have I spoken with a physician who took (or, more accurately, given funding setups, "had") the time to connect with me as a person. Those rare occasions have been profoundly moving and deeply healing.

So I was very interested in what Rajeev Kurapti, himself a physician, might have to say about the evolution of medical care. I was fascinated with this book. The author has delved into the historical antecedents of current practice. His study opens my mind to how medical practice has evolved because of cultural, religious and even political influences.

I still sigh for those rare physicians who connected with me beyond whatever symptoms I presented, but at least I have a better understanding of the challenges that have transformed medical practice over the centuries.

The book does not make me long for some "good, old (aka ancient) days", but it does make me appreciate the challenges faced by physicians who (thank goodness) rely on science yet understand their patients are more complicated than any litany of symptoms could possibly describe.

[S. Jeyran Main · Rating 5 out of 5]

The physician is a medical book referring to the human body and how medicine has advanced by getting physical. Healthcare providers who struggle to deliver a balance between both science and medicine can also benefit from this book.

What made this book stand out was the differentiation between the relationships that healthcare providers have with their patients and how we can minimize human suffering.

The book’s goal appears to be focusing on the depth of constructing a better correlation between perception, societies need of healing and healthcare.

I enjoyed the literature very much as it was easy to understand and to follow. I also appreciated the author using his platform in order to discuss and point out the issues that exist in science today.

Transcending limitations, I believe is a key issue here and the author executed the work flawlessly.

I recommend this book to people that are in the field of medicine or are looking into new methods of healing. Healthcare providers and people interested in science will also enjoy this book.

[The Irregular Reader · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book explores the origins of modern medicine, especially with regard to how religion and spirituality were so often intertwined with medical theory. Kurapati examines how medicine today has transformed into a solely scientific endeavor, largely leaving the spiritual behind.

While the history is fascinating, I find myself very thankful that modern medicine concerns itself more with the concrete and the verifiable than the religious and abstract. I understand Kurapati's point that modern medicine should look at multiple aspects of patient recovery and care, by I don't think that spiritual wellbeing should be in the wheelhouse of the neurosurgeon, or the OBGYN, or the trauma surgeon...

[Ietrio · Rating 1 out of 5]

A book based on a confusion: priest and witch doctor are not the same, even if a priest can act as witch doctor and the witch doctor can replace a priest. Actually, many MDs are simply witch doctors who happen to have joined a government mandated guild.

[Cindy Marsch · Rating 4 out of 5]

In the tradition of Paul Brand with and Otis Brawley with , Rajeev Kurapati, a practicing physician, explores the history and philosophy of medicine.

Although I squirmed a bit at Kurapati's presentation of some of the medieval and Enlightenment history I know something about, in general I felt I was in good hands as he explored the global development of medicine as art, science, and even belief system through millennia. Those who easily accept the idea that we have marched always further into precision and excellence in medicine would do well to consider what we have lost along the way--particularly in our managed-care, automated systems. With sensitivity and humility--including an afterword for the contemplation of fellow physicians--Kurapati helps us admire as he does the zeal of the physician to do well in the world, to relieve suffering and offer help and hope.

The Kindle edition is not optimal for those who enjoy exploring the notes as they read, for this version does not link to the notes, which constitute fully one third of the book content! But Kurapati is serious about his scholarship, and anyone else who is could spend years exploring his research.

Note: the author provided a copy of this book for review purposes, and my review is my honest opinion.