Doctor & Patient

by S. Weir Mitchell

The essays which compose this volume deal chiefly with a variety of subjects to which every physician must have given more or less thought. Some of them touch on matters concerning the mutual relation of physician and patient, but are meant to interest and instruct the laity rather than the medical attendant. The larger number have from their nature a closer relation to the needs of women than of men.

177 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1888

About the author

Silas Weir Mitchell was an American physician and writer.

During the Civil War he had charge of nervous injuries and maladies at Turners Lane Hospital, Philadelphia, and at the close of the war became a specialist in neurology. In this field Weir Mitchell's name became prominently associated with his introduction of the rest cure, subsequently taken up by the medical world, for nervous diseases, particularly hysteria; the treatment consisting primarily in isolation, confinement to bed, dieting and massage. His medical texts include Injuries of Nerves and Their Consequences (1872) and Fat and Blood (1877). Mitchell's disease (erythromelalgia) is named after him.

Reviews

[Dominic Lee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting discussion on how patient doctor interactions went in the late 1800; deeply mysoginistic but sadly this is a theme for books of the time.

[Avis Black · Rating 3 out of 5]

Though originally published in 1901, this medical book examining the relationship between doctors and patients is still interesting.