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mercedehb 's review for:
The Beauty in Breaking: A Memoir
by Michele Harper
This is a story about personal growth and healing, beautifully written by an Emergency Room physician who despite her excellent education and opportunities, grew up in a broken dysfunctional household with a drunk abusive father and a battered mother.
During an ER visit as a child, with her brother who had had an altercation with their father, she watches as patients enter the ER broken and suffering and leave mended and whole. that's when she decides on her professional career.
In the book she uses individual patient vignets and interactions from her job to not only highlight the socioeconomic inequities and healthcare inadequacies we as physician's face every day on the job, but also how by helping her patients mend their brokenness, she can find the strength, courage and truth to mend her own. "Medicine.. Is the opportunity to..heal the human body and spirit. By healing ourselves, we heal each other. By healing each other, we heal ourselves.".... "after letting go is forgiveness and after forgiveness, there is faith".
No matter what field of medicine we practice, it'll serve us well to remember our patients are whole people and to help them heal we need to address the 'whole' problem. Unfortunately, the healthcare system as its set up, doesn't acknowledge or reward physicians who take on this approach to spend time on their patients and actually try and heal them. This is where our healthcare delivery system is 'broken'.
As a surgeon myself, i always tell everyone, that on any given day, i do more therapy then surgery. And i probably help my patients more by listening to what troubles them then by using my scalpel.
"Healing ones broken ness is like the Japanese art of Kintsukuroi where one repairs broken pottery by filling the cracks with gold. The choice to highlight the imperfections with precious metals is to acknowledge and pay tribute to the broken vessel which is now considered even more beautiful for its imperfections. "
This book is filled with heartwrenching stories of patients whom society has failed them. And unfortunately some of the criticism i've heard about the book is that it's too preachy and although mentions alot if issues, doesn't delve into how to fix them. Well those people who have that criticisms clearly don't understand the role of the ER physician in the healthcare cycle. ER personnel see people at their worst life moment but for a brief encounter.. their role isn't to fix the problem, but to recognize and diagnose it. And unfortunately as all health care providers we literally have zero power or influence on how to fix the larger societal issues, that send these broken patients our way day in day out.. even though we probably have the most insight in the problems and the possible solutions.
Overall, i found this a great, easy read and probably a requirement for all physicians who struggle with maintaining their humanity while trying to find their role in today's healthcare system.
During an ER visit as a child, with her brother who had had an altercation with their father, she watches as patients enter the ER broken and suffering and leave mended and whole. that's when she decides on her professional career.
In the book she uses individual patient vignets and interactions from her job to not only highlight the socioeconomic inequities and healthcare inadequacies we as physician's face every day on the job, but also how by helping her patients mend their brokenness, she can find the strength, courage and truth to mend her own. "Medicine.. Is the opportunity to..heal the human body and spirit. By healing ourselves, we heal each other. By healing each other, we heal ourselves.".... "after letting go is forgiveness and after forgiveness, there is faith".
No matter what field of medicine we practice, it'll serve us well to remember our patients are whole people and to help them heal we need to address the 'whole' problem. Unfortunately, the healthcare system as its set up, doesn't acknowledge or reward physicians who take on this approach to spend time on their patients and actually try and heal them. This is where our healthcare delivery system is 'broken'.
As a surgeon myself, i always tell everyone, that on any given day, i do more therapy then surgery. And i probably help my patients more by listening to what troubles them then by using my scalpel.
"Healing ones broken ness is like the Japanese art of Kintsukuroi where one repairs broken pottery by filling the cracks with gold. The choice to highlight the imperfections with precious metals is to acknowledge and pay tribute to the broken vessel which is now considered even more beautiful for its imperfections. "
This book is filled with heartwrenching stories of patients whom society has failed them. And unfortunately some of the criticism i've heard about the book is that it's too preachy and although mentions alot if issues, doesn't delve into how to fix them. Well those people who have that criticisms clearly don't understand the role of the ER physician in the healthcare cycle. ER personnel see people at their worst life moment but for a brief encounter.. their role isn't to fix the problem, but to recognize and diagnose it. And unfortunately as all health care providers we literally have zero power or influence on how to fix the larger societal issues, that send these broken patients our way day in day out.. even though we probably have the most insight in the problems and the possible solutions.
Overall, i found this a great, easy read and probably a requirement for all physicians who struggle with maintaining their humanity while trying to find their role in today's healthcare system.