Beyond the Stethoscope

Our health care system is sick. We live in an era of factory style medicine, spiralling costs, complex and chronic conditions, and doctors at the heart of it under pressure as never before. Witnessing worrying burnout in her doctor husband, Lucy Mayes went on a quest to find out what is really going on behind the scenes in medicine. Lucy asked doctors on the front lines how they make meaning in their work, what quality medicine looks like to them, and what their hopes are for the future of medicine. What emerged were consistent messages about elements of practice that the culture and systems of medicine still struggle to understand and support: the power of humanism; compassion; listening; the therapeutic relationship; preventative care; the doctors' own wellbeing journey; and mind-body plus other holistic understandings of health and healing. Contributors are generalist and specialist doctors from Australia, New Zealand and beyond, and include some nationally and internationally renown health care reformists including Dr David Reilly (Scotland), Professor Vikram Patel (India & USA), Dr Robin Youngson (NZ), Dr Catherine Crock (Australia) and Dr Vicki Kotsirilos (Australia).Beyond the Stethoscope is for doctors, patients and for those who work in or have an interest in healthcare. It will leave readers shocked, moved and inspired by the struggles, wisdom and insights of those who sit before them in that most ancient and intimate of humanist exchanges: that of the doctor and patient.