Forthcoming Books

Being a Doctor

Understanding Medical Practice

Hamish Wilson & Wayne Cunningham

• For doctors in practice, students and doctors in training

• Foreword by Dr Glenn Colquhoun

Sometimes caring for patients can leave clinicians feeling overwhelmed with the daily tasks of
doctoring. As an antidote, this book explores principles and assumptions of modern medicine
seldom taught in medical school. Starting with the meaning of suffering and how the ‘science’ of
medicine has evolved, the authors use many clinical stories to provide a fresh perspective on the
work and roles of the modern doctor.
Based on many years of teaching family physicians, the book argues that being a doctor is much
more than simply knowing biomedical facts and having good clinical skills. It explores some of
the major challenges facing physicians, including the doctor–patient relationship, the ‘heartsink’
experience, and unwell patients for whom no disease can be found. The authors also introduce
patient safety and self-care, two important issues for modern health professionals.
For experienced doctors as well as for students and doctors in training, Being a Doctor moves
beyond biomedicine, providing useful insights that explain how both doctors and patients think
and behave.
‘It is good medicine!’ Glenn Colquhoun

June 2013

Paperback, 276 pp, ISBN 978 1 877578 36 6, $35