This thoughtful scholarly treatise on the residency, the most influential learning period for young physicians, is a major contribution to our understanding of how America produces its physician workforce. It notes the educational, scientific, economic, social, legal, ethical, and political influences which produce tensions and conflicts in the training experience. Dr. Ludmerer provides a platform for examining these influences and ... Read morehe proposes ways for the learning environment to be more flexible, while maintaining high standards and the professionalism we all want to retain in our nation's physicians. I heartily recommend this superb book to all who are interested in our nation's healthcare system.
Louis W. Sullivan, MD, President Emeritus, Morehouse School of Medicine, US Secretary of Health and Human Services, 1989-1993
In engaging and compelling prose, Kenneth Ludmerer vividly chronicles and insightfully analyzes the medical and social history of the residency phase of American medical education. Based on rich observational and documentary data, he brilliantly evaluates the achievements, tensions, and shortcomings of the residency system. Let Me Heal, the entreaty that he chose for the book's title, has contemporary as well as historic significance. It is associated with Ludmerer's stirring analysis of how the present-day struggles with patient care and health care delivery in the United States create challenges for good medical education, and of how the residency system can contribute to making medical care better and more affordable. This landmark book should be ready by all who are concerned with medical education and patient care in America.
Renee C. Fox Annenberg Professor Emerita of the Social Sciences University of Pennsylvania
The complete fascinating story of the graduate education of US physicians, its 19th century origins, its 20th century glories, and now its threatened decline in the hands of a commercialized hospital industry and a for-profit health system. A compelling read that all who would understand our health care problems will enjoy, and a masterful study sure to become the definitive reference in its field. Another notable contribution by Ludmerer to the history of medical education and its relation to contemporary society.
Arnold S. Relman, MD, Professor Emeritusof Medicine and of Social Medicine, Harvard Medical School, and former Editor-in-Chief, The New England Journal of Medicine
Let Me Heal is an eye-opening analysis of residency training and a wonderful exploration of its evolution. This third book in Ludmerer's trilogy on American medicine is a tour de force. I would consider it an indispensable resource for anyone seeking to understand medical education and for those with a stake in what the future might hold.
Abraham Verghese, MD Profesor of Medicine, Stanford University Author of Cutting For Steone
We ... consider this book an invaluable contribution to the field and encourage everyone involved with residency training to read it.
Editors, Journal of Graduate Medical Education
This book represents an important contribution to our understanding of the history and current state of American residency education and of ers a strong foundation for future research.
Science Magazine
[a] meticulous new book.
Lara Goitein, The New York Review of Books
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