Boston Doctors Are Publishing Lots of Books
Three books by Boston doctors.
Boston doctors are writing and publishing a lot of books—and that’s a very, very good thing. A recent study conducted by Catalyst Healthcare Research found that 93 percent of patients who were looking for a new physician would choose a doc based on if they could email them. What’s even more interesting is that approximately 25 percent of those respondents would pay $25 just to email a doctor. That’s $25 an email! Clearly, there’s a need for better communication (and perhaps, less face-to-face visits) between doctors and patients.
But what if you could read a whole book written by your doctor? In Boston, that reality has come true. We have an abundance of local physicians writing books, and the books are actually really good. Here, we highlight three recent standouts:
The Diabetes Breakthrough: Based on a Scientifically Proven Plan to Lose Weight and Cut Medications was co-written by Osama Hamdy, the founder and medical director of the Joslin Obesity Clinical Program and an assistant professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School. The book was based on his highly successful “Joslin Why WAIT” weight loss program (there was 500 participants studied over eight years time) and more than 15 years of research at Joslin Diabetes Center. The “Why WAIT” participants saw an average 25-pound weight loss after 12-weeks and an 82 percent success rate reaching blood glucose goals. A recent study showed that participants in the program maintained their weight loss on their own after five years.
Smart at Heart: A Holistic 10-Step Approach to Preventing and Healing Heart Disease for Women is co-authored by Malissa Wood, co-director of the Corrigan Women’s Heart Health Program at Mass General’s Heart Center and an assistant professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School. The book uses Wood’s previous studies on heart health to address the “whole heart,” which means its physical, emotional, and spiritual aspects. So while eating right and exercising is obviously a big part of maintaining a healthy heart, the book addresses things that you may not know can improve your heart health, such as changing the way you handle stress, cleaning out the clutter in your home, and improving the way you communicate.
Resident on Call: A Doctor’s Reflections on His First Years at Mass General is written by Scott Rivkees, a pediatrician who was once on staff at Harvard Medical School and completed his post-medical school training at Mass General. Although he is currently the physician-in-chief at Shands Hospital at the University of Florida, he documents his time at Mass General with wit, humor, and at times, sadness. Just two months out of medical school, Rivkees encountered his first meningitis case—an eight-week-old girl. It’s cases like this that make the book a worthwhile read because we get to see what happens inside one of the country’s top hospitals through the eyes of a green freshman.
