[alert variation=”alert-info”]Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
Formats: Hardcover, Paperback, eBook, Kindle
Purchase: Powell’s | Amazon | IndieBound | Barnes & Noble | iBooks[/alert]
The premise of Talking to Your Doctor is a good one: how to have more productive conversations with the doctors that are involved in our health. The author, Zackary Berger, MD, is obviously experienced in this arena and has done substantial amounts of research for this book. He provides the reader with the background for the medical profession and how quality is defined. He acknowledges that some conversations about bodily functions can be intimidating and uncomfortable. Another great point from Berger was the concept of negotiating the agenda for the limited time we get face-to-face with our doctors. So the goal to have workable relationships with our doctors was well intended. But the result is a less-than-user-friendly guide.
“The solution to the problem of communication is to learn choreography, the dance the doctor and patient must perform together so that communication leads to a healthy conversation.”
The book is very text heavy and it is difficult to discern where the tips really are because they are hidden beneath all the research. Some bulleted lists, text boxes and highlights of key points, behaviors and actions to take would have really made this book a winner. Again, the premise of creating effective doctor-patient collaboration was on target, but the delivery missed the mark.
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