The Best Medicine: Doctors, Patients, and the Covenant of Caring - Hardcover

An oncologist in Chicago lets go of her preconceived ideas about gay life as she becomes friends with a man who has AIDS.

A general practitioner in Chattanooga uses literature to heal, prescribing novels and poetry to go with good medicine.

These are just three of the wonderful doctors who practice the Best Medicine and who, along with their patients, can be found in these pages. Each of the twenty-five doctor-patient relationships portrayed in this book reveals ways we can all improve our health, our lives, and our communities.

For too long the value of the doctor-patient relationship has been ignored in the national debate over health care. Many Americans, who have lost their connections to their doctors who know their patients well can provide not only the best, but the most cost-effective care as well.

All of us eventually play the patient's role. At some point a relationship with a doctor becomes central to our lives, even a matter of life and death. The Best Medicine shows the value of forming a close bond between doctor and patient well before a crisis arises, and it shows us all how to do it even in the world of modern health care.