Patient by Patient: Lessons in Love, Loss, Hope, and Healing from a Doctor's Practice

by Emily R. Transue

Emily Transue earned her credentials in medical school, but learns lessons of a different kind when she embarks on private practice. Her patients, some delightful, some difficult, all come to her for medical advice but, they are not the only ones gaining from the experience. As Dr. Transue guides them through routine exams and life-challenging crises she learns much about life and death, hope and fear and being the physician she wants to be. These lessons carry over into her personal life as she struggles with heartwrenching illness and loss in her own family. Throughout, she is a keen observer of her patients, their families, and their lives.

Genres: Nonfiction, Medical, Medicine, Memoir

272 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 2008

About the author

Emily R. Transue, MD, is a native of Toledo, Ohio, and a graduate of Yale College and Dartmouth Medical School. She did her residency and chief residency in Internal Medicine at the University of Washington, Seattle. She works as a general internist at a multispecialty group in Seattle, and is a clinical Assistant Professor at the University of Washington. She received the Providence-Seattle Medical Center Outstanding Educator of the Year award in 2003, and is a Fellow of the American College of Physicians. She has published stories and poems in JAMA, Dartmouth Medicine, and elsewhere.

Reviews

[Leslie Zampetti · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm a sucker for doctor lit - Complications, anything by Oliver Sacks, Hot Lights, Cold Steel, etc. But Transue is something different. I have to go get On Call because I can't believe I missed it.

This is a great book that allows you to enter the doctor's thoughts on her patients. Warning - she does deal with loss, both of her patients and her father and grandmother, so if you've recently lost anyone, I'd hold off. I was crying, and it's been some years since my grandma passed away.

But to compensate, I was laughing out loud at scenes where she tries to cope with insurance codes.... Sometimes life isn't fair; she's a doctor and she can write circles around most folks.

[Jillian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Patient by Patient was a great follow-up novel from Transue’s first book, On Call. The story of Transue’s medical and professional journey is continued, and we gain great insight from events in her personal life as well. This was a nice, quick read that taught me many lessons on the meaning of life.

[Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this follow up to On Call, Dr. Transue shares the experiences of settling into practice as an internist fresh out of residency. In Patient by Patient we hear not only the patient stories that have touched Transue's life, but also the personal life experiences that shape her as a physician and a person. She shares many stories of grief and loss but manages to find hope amongst all of the sadness. A quick, enjoyable read that leaves you wanting more.

[Shatha · Rating 5 out of 5]

Simple and lovely, this is a very underrated book, and Emily Transue is an underrated author. At times funny, at others moving, you oscillate between laughing and tears. It was such a sweet read, I felt like a friend of Dr Transue by the end of it, and I was sad that it ended - even sadder that she hasn't written anything else. I would highly recommend this book.

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent follow-up to Transue's On Call: A Doctor's Days and Nights in Residency. Her writing is still excellent, and I enjoyed the book very much. It starts when she opens her private practice and includes stories from that practice and hospital work over a number of years. It also has a lot about her family's medical issues, specifically her father, who had dementia due to a (possibly lifesaving) medical procedure, and his elderly parents. These parts of the book were as interesting as the rest, but I found myself almost resenting the space they took up. I wanted more patient stories! I wish, selfishly, that she would write another book.

[Jean · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyed the stories of patients but it got a little boring after a while.

[Sara Goldenberg · Rating 5 out of 5]

so interesting!!!

[Kristin · Rating 4 out of 5]

The author's name is familiar, though I'm not certain whether I read her other book. If I have not, I definitely want to because her writing is excellent, flows well, and kept me interesting through the end. Transue uses threads from her personal life to incorporate relevant stories from her job into each chapter. In particular, Transue focuses on the relationships with her father and grandparents and her marriage to another physician. Her father lives in California with his partner and slowly loses his battle with a brain tumor, which Transue ties in to dealing with patients who are chronically and terminally ill. Similarly, Transue talks of her frequent trips from her home in Seattle to see her paternal grandparents in Pennsylvania. From them, she learns how they cope with advancing age, the loss of a child, and how the life they lived overseas during WWII shaped who they are today. Leaving them behind in order to marry another doctor and practice so far away was difficult, but clearly necessary in the long run, and she appreciates the relationship she has with her husband because they can bounce ideas and struggles off of each other and know the other will be listening with an open ear.
Primarily though, Transue's book is about her work as a general physician for adults, doing physicals and other routine work for which patients seek out their primary care doctor. She chronicles her early time in practice trying to gain the self confidence to accept that she is now in charge of a whole group of people's well-being and that they will ask her questions about pretty much anything. Also, she touches on the battles with billing, something that probably could be a book on its own, but she puts just enough in to explain the situation without getting bogged down in it, and she writes about it in an entertaining way to liven up a bland topic. Many of Transue's stories have sad endings, but not all the stories are tragic. As a primary care doctor, the memorable patients aren't the ones who come in for a physical or an itchy rash and leave with essentially a clean bill of health, but are instead the ones who have something remarkable, such as still being alive 15 years after being told you had 6 months to live due to invasive cancer. There are the occasional lighthearted anecdotes like the lady in stirrups for a routine Pap smear when an earthquake hits, who quickly decides that perhaps the rest of the exam can wait until another time.
Overall, a book I enjoyed quite a bit, and someone from whom I'll be on the lookout for future books.

[Sagan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Much like the first book, Transue's memoir of life as a doctor is poignant and thought-provoking. Her views have changed significantly though. Instead of the fast-paced, energetic and sometimes traumatic lifestyle of being a resident intern at an emergency room, she is settling into life as a primary care provider. Along the way, she deals with parallels between her aging and ill patients, and her own family members.

I wasn't as glued to this book like I was the first one, but once I got into it, it really held me. It was more sobering to read, as you get attached to the people she describes, and have to let them go as well.

[Sarah · Rating 2 out of 5]

In general, I'm a big fan of medical literature, coupled with the fact that this one takes place in Seattle I was eager to dive in. Transue weaves the events of her personal life in with tales of her early days of medical practice. Sounds like a winning recipe but the writing failed to engage me enough to complete the book.

[Shan Ying · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dr. Emily Transue is indeed a talented writer. She illustrates the love, loss and hope in the relationship between doctors and patients. Each story that Dr. Transue included in her book is surrounded by her experience of humanity. Illness and beauty; the cruel fact of fact of dying and the heartwarming sensation of caring can indeed woven into a beautiful picture in Dr. Transue's book.

[Abigail Cashelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall: Not a profound book, but very true-to-life and funny. Gives a genuine glimpse into a young woman’s life, her journeys as a primary care physician, a daughter, a granddaughter, and a girlfriend.

More here: http://hiddencourage.wordpress.com/20...

[Ruben · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read the first couple of chapters of Dr. Transue's first book, and I keep a doctor for a wife, so I'm familiar with both her style and subject. She deals a lot with death here, and as you would guess, it's the stories of her own family that mean the most. A goodread, but not a greatread.

[Brian · Rating 3 out of 5]

While I enjoyed this book, I found her earlier book, "On Call" to be better written and more interesting. In this book, Dr. Transue focuses too much on her family and not enough on pt interaction and the challenges of being a primary care physician.

[Kater Cheek · Rating 3 out of 5]

This had some interesting stories, but wasn't laugh-out-loud funny. In fact, it was quite depressing, and made me cry more than once. Ms. Transue is a skilled writer, however, and her anecdotes are memorable and touching.

[Marmie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very good book. It has a little bit of curse words, which added nothing to the mix. I loved the part where she expressed her love for her grandparents. It was very touching and sweet. My only true objection is that she did not find Jesus in her life.

[Linda · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think that working with patients one learns alot about her self.

[Kirstin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've always enjoyed a behind the scenes look at people's professions.

[Margaret · Rating 5 out of 5]

I liked this book a lot, especially her reflections on relationships and death. Functions as much as a memoir about family relationships as it does about the author's medical practice.

[Melinda Cordell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Book is very focused on death and how different people grieve. Loved it, would recommend to someone who had read her first book.

[Stephanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another quick read by the author, but delves more into her personal life.

[Joe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well written and very poignant at times

[Bannon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good, but sad book. I cried at the end.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful book.