Getting Doctored: Critical Reflections on Becoming a Doctor

Getting Doctored explores the process whereby young, often idealistic medical students are transformed through their education into hardened, "alienated" professionals. Shapiro critically examines the learning experiences students confront in medical schools and how these experiences reinforce the destructive forms of power and authority which exist within the profession as a whole. Getting Doctored spotlights unhealthful doctor-patient relationships, the negative effects of technology and sub-specialization, the deliberate mystification of the general public when struggling with medical issues. Getting Doctored invites us to reflect on how we can regain control over own lives and health. "The mix of anecdote and theory makes it lively and practical: You sense what Shapiro is talking about is real and has been experienced by one wide-eyed doctor with a lot of questions. The author of this book is clearly someone who loves doctoring and has an idealistic view of what medicine and hospitals should be. That's what makes it so disturbing." Kingston Whig Standard. "If you are at all interested in the state of medical care, read this book." In These Times Martin Shapiro is assistant Professor of Medicine at the University of California at Los Angeles Medical School. He specializes in public health and in the history and teaching of medicine. Born in Montreal and graduate of McGill University Medical School. Shapiro uses his experience to further the understanding of medical education in both Canada and the United States. (from the back cover of this book)