116. Abraham Verghese Thinks Medicine Can Do Better

Abraham Verghese is a physician and a best-selling author — in that order, he says. He explains the difference between curing and healing, and tells Steve why doctors should spend more time with patients and less with electronic health records. RESOURCES:The Covenant of Water, by Abraham Verghese (2023)."Abraham Verghese’s Sweeping New Fable of Family and Medicine,” by Andrew Solomon (The New York Times, 2023).“Watch Oprah’s Emotional Conversation with Abraham Verghese, Author of the 101st Oprah’s Book Club Pick” (Oprah Daily, 2023)."How Indian Teachers Have Shaped Ethiopia's Education System," by Mariam Jafri (The Quint, 2023).“How Tech Can Turn Doctors Into Clerical Workers,” by Abraham Verghese (The New York Times Magazine, 2018).Cutting for Stone, by Abraham Verghese (2009)."Culture Shock — Patient as Icon, Icon as Patient," by Abraham Verghese (The New England Journal of Medicine, 2008).“The Cowpath to America,” by Abraham Verghese (The New Yorker, 1997).My Own Country: A Doctor's Story, by Abraham Verghese (1994)."Urbs in Rure: Human Immunodeficiency Virus Infection in Rural Tennessee," by Abraham Verghese, Steven L. Berk, and Felix Sarubbi (The Journal of Infectious Diseases, 1989).EXTRAS:"Are You Suffering From Burnout?" by No Stupid Questions (2023)."Would You Rather See a Computer or a Doctor?" by Freakonomics, M.D. (2022).“How Do You Cure a Compassion Crisis?” by Freakonomics Radio (2020).The Citadel, by A. J. Cronin (1937).Uncle Tom's Cabin, by Harriet Beecher Stowe (1852).SOURCES:Abraham Verghese, professor of medicine at Stanford University and best-selling novelist.