PREMISE

Health and healthcare are two sides of the same coin that are often a source of anxiety, struggle, frustration, heartache, and resentment. Most of us, in fact all of us, will need to visit a doctor during our lifetime. The purpose of this book is to describe common medical conditions in the context of real patients and the science behind them in a thought provoking style, as well as to examine aspects of modern healthcare and advocacy issues that are currently relevant.

SUMMARY

Sounds of a Stethoscope is a narrative medical non-fiction that describes the experiences of a physician in a compelling chronicle of facts and real life patients that targets an audience of healthcare professionals as well as laypersons. Readers will be able to get a revealing behind-the-scenes glimpse of the sundry pieces that make the puzzle of a doctor’s life interesting, rewarding, disturbing, and challenging. Nineteen different topics have been elucidated in a compassionate story telling style that will trigger the readers to reflect deeply on the issues that they identify with. Every reader is bound to connect with at least a few themes in the book since it covers a wide array of subjects that are likely to be familiar to them in conventional everyday life. The author has drawn liberally from her deeply personal experiences with struggles with her own health as well as her family, to document her personal journey as a caregiver, healthcare provider, and patient. Fear, doubt, and failure are intertwined with success, confidence, and joy in the numerous colors of the rainbow to describe what is at stake regarding the health of individuals and populations.

OVERVIEW

The American healthcare system is notorious for its complexity and labyrinthine intricacy. It is often overwhelming enough to try to understand the sickness of self and family. Changing medical treatments, insurance hassles, multiple medical opinions, shared decision making, and ambiguous diagnoses make it even harder for the layperson. Sounds of a Stethoscope has attempted to capture the essence of what being a doctor or a patient in America is all about.

The book has 18 chapters broadly categorized into four different sections: clinical conundrum, women’s health, advocacy, and modern medicine.

The clinical conundrum includes a detailed discussion about common ailments like nightmares, gluten intolerance, dementia, alcoholism, and the unique challenges in caring for a Jehovah’s Witness patient. Each chapter describes a real case report and scientific evidence regarding the various aspects of the topic, with suggestions on help-seeking for patients and their families in broad strokes.

The author is a specialist in women’s health and describes three hot topics related to women based on her considerable expertise: the provocative and controversial issues with female sexual desire, breast cancer genetic risk in young women, and the history and detrimental attributes of high heeled footwear.

Advocacy has been an integral component of the author’s career and she has raised her voice passionately in support of the vulnerable population with whom she has worked consistently in many different roles. As an Asian immigrant, she is acutely aware of the progressively increasing sexual violence in developing countries and the state of healthcare in the ‘third world’. As a County physician in Chicago catering to the indigent Southside population, she has a front-seat insight into the barriers and biases faced by the ethnic minority. As an HIV specialist at the largest Midwest LGBT medical center, she understands the trials and tribulations encountered by the transgender population. In Sounds of a Stethoscope, these issues have been discussed with a compassionate and kind approach, to enhance awareness and engage the reader into being inspired to help and advocate in their own way.

Medicine advances rapidly. Before you know it, things change on a daily basis. The author has illuminated four contemporary subjects in modern medicine that are clearly informative and expedient for the reader to keep abreast of the constantly changing fabric of healthcare. Medical marijuana has been in the news with its fair share of controversies. The electronic cigarette was invented to augment smoking cessation but is it a worrisome beast in itself? Access to high quality affordable health care remains a critical problem globally. Can telemedicine be the answer? Healthcare reform under President Obama has seen an unprecedented transformation in insurance coverage. The author describes the nitty gritty of the Affordable Care Act and how it affects us.