Treatment Kind and Fair: Letters to a Young Doctor

by Perri Klass

If you've ever gotten wrapped up in the arcana of "E.R." or "House," or been absorbed by a piece in The New Yorker by Gawande, Groopman, or Nuland, or sat on that exam table wondering what's really going on in your doctor's head, then this book is for you. Expertise versus commonsense practice; moral judgments on young patients or their parents; asking tough questions; death and physician-assisted suicide; daily life with a doctor's job (yours or a family member's); doctors as patients-Klass addresses the primary issues in the life of any doctor and, by extension, the lives of those for whom they care. Perri Klass, M.D., is a writer, teacher, pediatrician, and mentor. In her frequent contributions to the New York Times , she takes on a host of issues particular to the life of a doctor-secrecy, ethics, fear, grief, and competition-with a warmth and wit her readers have come to love. Now, in the newest addition to Basic's Art of Mentoring series, she offers her guidance, and her stories, to a new generation of doctors and readers.

Genres: Medicine, Nonfiction, Medical, Memoir

256 pages, Paperback

First published June 11, 2007

About the author

Perri Klass is a pediatrician who writes fiction and non-fiction. She writes about children and families, about medicine, about food and travel, and about knitting. Her newest book is a novel, The Mercy Rule, and the book before that was a work of non-fiction, Treatment Kind and Fair: Letters to a Young Doctor, written in the form of letters to her older son as he starts medical school.
She lives in New York City, where she is Professor of Journalism and Pediatrics at New York University, and she has three children of her own. She is also Medical Director of Reach Out and Read, a national literacy organization which works through doctors and nurses to promote parents reading aloud to young children.
source: www.perriklass.com

Reviews

[Andrew Lobo · Rating 4 out of 5]

An articulate and empathetic look at what it's like to train, act, and think like a doctor. The narrative trick--that Klass structures the book as letters to her son who is considering entering medical school--gives the work an appealing intimacy, while the case studies she sprinkles in speak to the myriad challenges that face doctors. The frankness with which she explores medical mistakes, work-life balance, patient confidentiality, and death, paired with her direct, utilitarian prose, make this a worthy addition to the canon of books about medicine.

[Megan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book! Dr. Klass has such a warm and personable manner. She is writing letters to her son about being a doctor. She tells what a privilege it is to be a doctor, to be invited into peoples' lives. She talks about the awesome responsibility it is to be with patients during the very worst and best times of their lives. I think everyone who is considering medicine should read this book.

[Jean W-L · Rating 4 out of 5]

So readable; held my attention. Written at a layperson’s level and sweeps one into the world of medical training, medico legal, and moral dilemmas.

[M. Burak · Rating 5 out of 5]

çevirisi gerçekten sade olmuş ve tıbbi terimler çok kullanılmamış. terimlere aşina değilseniz bile rahatlıkla okuyabilirsiniz. tıp fakültesinde olan veya düşünen hatta herkesin okumasını isterdim bu kitabı. bir annenin tıp fakültesi seçen çocuğuna hitaben yazdığı ama aslında tüm genç doktor adaylarına yazmış olduğu bir eser. bundan dolayı da samimi bir üslubu var. eğer tıp fakültesindeyseniz bu kitabı okumanızı isterdim.

[Christopher Pritting · Rating 5 out of 5]

Quick but excellent read on a pediatrician’s experience in medicine. It’s written as letters to her son, who is a soon to be physician. It’s slightly outdated given its from 2007 but most of what is said feels ever the more pertinent.

[Malin Friess · Rating 4 out of 5]

Perri Klass is a practicing pediatrician and journalist in Boston. She writes this book as a memoir to her son Orlando who is just applying to medical school. Klass both encourages and warns her son about entering this profession.

She addresses a wide variety of topics from doctors as patients (they are crabby and controlling), gross anatomy lab, the 80 hour work week, the physical exam (don't say you checked pedal pulse when the patient has no legs, palpating masses (it really is vague), defensive medicine, her own medical errors, evidence based medicine, and how doctors actually rarely follow the advice they give their patients (eat healthy and exercise) as many don't have the time for such things.

This book is only a few hundrend pages...I give it four stars. Klass is a good writer and comes across as a compassionate pedicatrician who maybe longs for the days when medicine was that of yesterday with fewer tests, fewer computers, fewer specialists and more time with the patient.

You can tell Klass cares for the state of medicine just as much as she does for her son...and though she extols young doctors to treat each patient "kind and fair" (what more could one ask)...She also requests that medicine treat doctors "kind and fair"...and if that is still happening in our age is questionable??

[Kristin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Of all the epistolary books I've read, this was the only one I can actually say I enjoyed. Granted, the others were all assigned school reading in HS or college, but maybe the professors should consider this one as an example of the style.
What set this book apart was the subject matter, as I enjoy Perri Klass' writing because she writes about medicine and does it well. In this work, she is passing the torch to the next generation, as the letters are to her eldest son, who is training to be a doctor. However, the letters are not so deeply personal that they can't be read and enjoyed by all.

I believe there were 10 letters to this book, and each deals with a different concept from Klass' years of experience in the medical field, peppering general advice with specific examples from Klass' patient files. They are long letters though, thus the 200+ pages, but by no means dull or tedious.

Overall, I thought this was a great book, but I enjoy Klass' writing so much, I would have gladly taken 300 or 400 pages of it.

[Becca · Rating 4 out of 5]

The epitome of Klass' work -- a pedantic and often obnoxious narrative voice overlying the fantasies and fears that are, in fact ubiquitous among medical trainees. After reading this I knew that I wasn't the first to secretly desire running off to practice medicine in some rural third-world country -- not out of benevolence, but to be able to utilize history and physical skills, without any pesky high technology to ruin my intellectual fun and I now know that I share the mixed dread and exhilaration boarding an aircraft knowing that they may call "Is someone on board a doctor?"
Klass is maybe the most renowned medical writer and although she is far from the best, she never fails to entertain.

[Madelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Perri Klass, a pediatrician, writes of her experiences in medical school and practice as her son is applying to medical school. This heart felt, honest book talks about the joys and challenges of being a doctor, about the privilege of being a part of other's lives especially in times of crisis and the changes medicine is seeing today as compared with 20 years ago. It must be a great encouragement to her son. I enjoyed it as we have a lot of doctors in our family and it brought back memories of marriage while my husaband was in medical school.

[Jinyan Zhang · Rating 4 out of 5]

Perri Klass delivers an engaging and personal touch to being a doctor and dispense numerous advices to her son who is headed to become her professional colleague. Each chapter touches on an aspect on what it takes to be a doctor from dealing with death through balancing the work-life dilemma that so often plagues this profession. The book starts out slow but continuously guides you through Perri's eyes and eventually, it feels as though you're with her as she writes these letters. Classic and down-to-earth book for someone interested in pursuing this profession.

[Nouf · Rating 5 out of 5]

As an aspiring pediatrician this book continuously inspired and motivated me. The author writes letters to her son who has just been accepted to medical school. She fills the book with stories and advice on how to tackle this intricate and interesting world of medicine. I was completely absorbed by her captivating writing style and I’m still in awe by her wisdom and guidance.
Perri Klass you have a new admirer: me.

[Grace · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've always liked Perri Klass, since I first read her when I was in high school. She comes across as very human and makes doctoring into something that other humans do (rather than an arcane mystery). A doctor mother who is writing to her oldest son, who is about to become a doctor, about doctoring the children of other parents-- can make for a moving read.

[David Chou · Rating 5 out of 5]

helpful, to say the least, for any aspiring pre-med or med student! Full of practical advice, wittisisms, and plain ol' motherly love, Treatment kind and fair takes the readers on a voyage through the ever-expanding world of Medicine. what makes this book particularly endearing is the format from which the stories are told - letters, letters to the author's own son :) how precious. check it out.

[Lidja · Rating 4 out of 5]

Son-in-law is starting med school and received this at orientation. I was interested, so read it too. It's a quick read, written with insight and gives good practical advice about the human process of becoming a doctor. Great resource for family members to understand what a med student experiences in training.

[Aidan Garemani · Rating 4 out of 5]

very cutesie mother to son-applying-to-med-school series of letters, informative in an engaging story way. slightly boring from time to time but that could just be me. will read again after med school and see if anything changes

[Brian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Its a good book, but there are better on the market.

[Ajay · Rating 4 out of 5]

touching. no, really.

[Sue Kozlowski · Rating 5 out of 5]

Non-fiction. Awesome - I loved it. Pediatrician writes letters to her son who is going to med school. Tells all about what its like to be a Dr. - how they become part of everyone's lives.

[Eric Bias · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very good read. I will have to go back and read it sometime soon. I would highly recommend.