How Doctors Think (2007)

PHYSICIAN, HEAL THYSELF! Groopman's laser-like focus on doctors' mind-set may make those of us who are patients feel a bit queasy

Harvard Medical School professor and New Yorker staffer Jerome Groopman's How Doctors Think is single-minded in its exploration of ''what goes on in a doctor's mind as he or she treats a patient.'' Often, decisions about a patient are made within seconds and influenced by the doctor's own personal and professional biases. The flip side of Groopman's steadfast devotion to his topic, of course, is that he risks wearing down his reader with too many examples of how doctors can go wrong. It's enough to make the most carefree readers fear for their lives. A-

For Gilbert Cruz's take on another recently published study of flaws in medical care from a physician's perspective, see Better by Atul Gawande.