Once again, On Being a Doctor illuminates the art and science of medicine with an all-new collection of stories, essays, and poems. If you are a physician who has felt the joy of patient care, the frustrations of bureaucracy, the satisfaction of a good catch, the anguish of a mistake, or the long sorrow of losing a patient, you will find sympathy and companionship in these pages.



If you are patient who has been frightened by an illness or strengthened by enduring it, treated compassionately by one medical professional or coldly by another, cured by the miracle of science or made sadly aware of its limitations, you will meet others here who share your experiences and feelings. Personal narratives, poems, and other creative writing by doctors and patients has found a distinguished home in the Annals of Internal Medicine, one of the world's leading medical journals, for many years.



Offering a new selection of the best of this writing from recent issues of this journal, On Being a Doctor 3 makes an excellent companion to the previous two volumes, also available from ACP. Read them all for pleasure, for comfort, for wisdom, and for understanding!