What readers think of How Doctors Think, plus links to write your own review.

This book should be given to every patient, so they can be on an equal footing and now how the system works and why it works the way it does. Well researched and explained from the inside out, it demystifies a whole area of life that all of us will have to deal with at some stage, it helps the patient understand the doctor and thus the doctor to understand the patient, and here is to understanding!

This book was very informative, but highly readable. It does a good job explaining why doctors make mistakes. I enjoyed the case studies Groopman uses to illustrate his message.

His book teaches you you how to be a proactive patient. He tells you what to look for in a doctor, how to talk to your doctor and when to look for another doctor. As a new mom, I'm glad I have tools I can use to be my child's advocate. Worth reading!

I chose this book because it was on the NY Times bestseller list. I was looking for books that our literature group might be interested in reading in the Fall of 2007. Once I began the book, I could not put it down. Dr. Groopman, "bless his heart," writes in such a way that readers will want to understand the terms he uses and exam their own experiences with doctors in ways they might not have considered prior to this. Some chapters truly struck home, the lack of recognition given to Family Practice doctors( I have a great one) and the battles they sometimes fight with "specialists." I was particularly impressed with Dr. Groopman's encouragement of patients and families with the "this doesn't seem right feeling," to continue their questioning of diagnoses and treatments of themselves and their families.
This is an honest book, empowering for patients, and I hope, on the "must read list" of doctors everywhere.

This book shows how doctors diagnose patients. Some use snap judgments and others use various diagnostic tools...but usually it's a combination of the two. I feel that I've learned something about how doctors come to their decisions.

A very readable account of how doctors form the medical diagnoses that they do and ways that we, as patients, can help. The real-life cases are fascinating, and I appreciated the fact that they all pretty much had happy endings. This book proved to be a real mind opener into the critical thinking skills that doctors must employ. Only once or twice did the author lose me in medical details. My favorite parts of the book were the real-life patients and how eventually their medical mysteries were resolved by physicians who listened to their patients.

In today's labyrinth of medical care, it is critical to be an educated and involved patient. How Doctors Think is an invaluable aid in understanding how doctors arrive at an accurate diagnosis. The epilogue is particularly useful for patients and caregivers who want to be partners with their doctors in their health care.

How Doctors Think is an interesting examination of the ways in which doctors arrive at medical diagnosis. By explaining the methods students are taught to use when dealing with patients, Groopman illustrates how misdiagnoses can occur, and steps doctors and patients can take to avoid them.

Groopman uses real case studies to demonstrate the many ways doctors good intentions can go wrong. In the initial chapters, he also offers suggestions to lay people about how to ask questions that can direct doctors to different ways of thinking. Towards the end of the book, however, he seems to be focusing more specifically on doctors themselves, and the advice for the patient is omitted. I found the book to be interesting and informative, with some good suggestions to take to my next doctor's appointment.

I never really thought that much about how doctors came to their diagnoses or conclusions. To a certain extent like my parents and grandparents, doctors have held a more than human status in my mind.

This book does not really tell me anything that logically, I could have figured out for myself, given some time and thought regarding the subject. However, it is highly unlikely that I WOULD have given the time to the subject unless facing some type of medical emergency (which, thank god, I have not had to). But it does bring the thought processes of doctors in various situations down to a more human level--and, as a result, helps me with any interactions with doctors that I may have in the future.

An easy, interesting, and sometimes disturbing and thought-provoking read.