Caring for Patients - (Critique of the Medical Model) by Allen Barbour (Paperback)

About the Book

An experienced and compassionate physician questions the prevailing medical model of patient care--that every illness has a physical cause that can be identified and treated medically--and argues for the necessity of taking the psychological and social situation of the patient into account in the process of diagnosis and treatment.

Book Synopsis

"See your patient as a person, not a disease." This is the essential message of an experienced and compassionate physician who questions the prevailing medical model of patient care - that every illness has a physical cause that can be identified and treated medically - and who argues for the necessity of taking the psychological and social circumstances of the patient into account in the process of diagnosis and treatment.

From the Back Cover

"The late Allen Barbour, a master clinician-educator . . . has distilled 40 years of experience into a book that is both practical and scholarly. . . . A book to be read cover to cover by health care providers of all types, in training as well as midway through their careers. Were he alive today, Osler would be pleased to write the preface."--Annals of Internal Medicine
"A legacy of Barbour's 40-year career in teaching, scholarship, and patient care, Caring for Patients is an excellent read. The writing is crisp and lucid. . . . A gem of a book."--New England Journal of Medicine

Review Quotes

"A book to be read cover to cover by health care providers of all types, in training as well as midway through their careers. Were he alive today, Osler would be pleased to write the preface."--Annals of Internal Medicine

"A legacy of Barbour's 40-year career in teaching, scholarship, and patient care, Caring for Patients is an excellent read. The writing is crisp and lucid. . . . A gem of a book."--New England Journal of Medicine

"Extremely thoughtful and well researched, this book offers practical approaches to typically difficult patient problems. . . . I highly recommend this book to anyone teaching or practicing primary care--physicians, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, and behavioral scientists."--Family Medicine

"The author is to be congratulated for assembling a most readable, concise, yet scholarly review of the importance of using a biopsychosocial approach in conceptualizing and treating mental illness."--American Journal of Psychiatry

"The late Allen Barbour, a master clinician-educator . . . has distilled 40 years of experience into a book that is both practical and scholarly. . . . A book to be read cover to cover by health care providers of all types, in training as well as midway through their careers. Were he alive today, Osler would be pleased to write the preface."--Annals of Internal Medicine

About the Author

The late Allen Barbour, M.D., was Professor of Clinical Medicine at Stanford University. He served as Chief of the Stanford Diagnostic Clinic at the Stanford Medical School from 1971 until his retirement in 1981. During his tenure, he received six awards for outstanding clinical teaching.