Abraham Verghese Thinks Medicine Can Do Better (Update)

Abraham Verghese is a physician and a best-selling author — in that order, he says. He explains the difference between curing and healing, and tells Steve why doctors should spend more time with patients and less with electronic health records.

• SOURCES:• Abraham Verghese (abrahamverghese.org/biography), professor of medicine at Stanford University and best-selling novelist.

• RESOURCES:• The Covenant of Water (amzn.to/3tufQKS), by Abraham Verghese (2023).
• “Abraham Verghese’s Sweeping New Fable of Family and Medicine (nytimes.com/2023/05/02/books/review/covenant-o…),” by Andrew Solomon (The New York Times, 2023).
• “Watch Oprah’s Emotional Conversation with Abraham Verghese, Author of the 101st Oprah’s Book Club Pick (oprahdaily.com/entertainment/books/a44547209/t…)” (Oprah Daily, 2023).
• “How Indian Teachers Have Shaped Ethiopia’s Education System (thequint.com/south-asians/how-indian-teachers-…),” by Mariam Jafri (The Quint, 2023).
• “How Tech Can Turn Doctors Into Clerical Workers (nytimes.com/interactive/2018/05/16/magazine/he…),” by Abraham Verghese (The New York Times Magazine, 2018).
• Cutting for Stone (amzn.to/3Qbf26k), by Abraham Verghese (2009).
• “Culture Shock — Patient as Icon, Icon as Patient (nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp0807461),” by Abraham Verghese (The New England Journal of Medicine, 2008).
• “The Cowpath to America (newyorker.com/magazine/1997/06/23/the-cowpath-…),” by Abraham Verghese (The New Yorker, 1997).
• My Own Country: A Doctor’s Story (amzn.to/3Fclowc), by Abraham Verghese (1994).
• “Urbs in Rure: Human Immunodeficiency Virus Infection in Rural Tennessee (academic.oup.com/jid/article-abstract/160/6/10…),” by Abraham Verghese, Steven L. Berk, and Felix Sarubbi (The Journal of Infectious Diseases, 1989).

• EXTRAS:• “Are You Suffering From Burnout? (freakonomics.com/podcast/are-you-suffering-fro…)” by No Stupid Questions (2023).
• “Would You Rather See a Computer or a Doctor? (freakonomics.com/podcast/would-you-rather-see-…)” by Freakonomics, M.D. (2022).
• “How Do You Cure a Compassion Crisis? (freakonomics.com/podcast/how-do-you-cure-a-com…)” by Freakonomics Radio (2020).
• The Citadel (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Citadel_(novel)), by A. J. Cronin (1937).
• Uncle Tom’s Cabin (britannica.com/topic/Uncle-Toms-Cabin), by Harriet Beecher Stowe (1852).

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