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

This is a very enlightening read and gives a lot of insight into how physicians work through a patient's problems. It also illustrates how doctors are also human and therefore not immune to making mistakes or errors in judgment. The book gives useful suggestions on how to communicate more effectively with doctors and highlighted some issues I'd never even considered.

This 270 page book is about how doctors diagnose and decide on a course of treatment; it deals mostly with major medical problems. Chapters deal with cancer, heart problems, radiologists' accuracy in reading X-rays etc., a case involving a Vietnamese adoption and spirituality, hormone replacement, pharmaceutical/ethical issues i.e., lots of interesting stuff. The cases are real and some of the percent accuracies are disturbing to say the least. Groopman advocates for aggressive, involved patients, those who question and challenge - for their own protection. I'd recommend buying this book, particularly those of you who, like me, are on the dark side of 50. Even if you do not read it, keep it handy as a reference book. If you or a loved one are diagnosed with a serious illness I would strongly recommend reading the appropriate chapter from this book as a starting point.

This is a must read for anyone who is dealing with a health problem or knows of someone who doesn't feel that they have been properly diagnosed. The author describes the forces and thought processes behind the decisions doctors make, often driven by the fear of failure, pressure from insurance and pharmaceutical companies, patient overload, and money.

The book cites examples describing why some doctors succeed and others err, but also shows how we can help doctors avoid snap judgments, acknowledge uncertainty, communicate effectively and deploy other skills that can impact our health. Most informative was the ways in which we, the patient, can help the physician look "outside the box" when a diagnosis doesn't seem to fit us or a loved one.

I found the book very informative and feel that it has given me an insight in how to communicate better with my doctor and also ask the right questions should the need arise.

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.

I'm sure if I brought up the book to my doctor and my assumptions about what I felt, he would ask me to ask HIM what he thought. Surely not ALL doctors dislike those with serious illnesses. Why did you become doctors if you couldn't handle helping patients come back from near death or trying to keep the pain away? We who have chronic illnesses, especially those who are trying to be healthier, deserve warmth from our doctor. I'm angry because it breaks down trust and makes patients avoid coming in until too late!!

There didn't seem to be any opposing view points in the book.