“Wise and witty.”―Publishers Weekly “A charming story well told.”―Kirkus Reviews “Smart, funny, charming . . . full of astute insights into the way Italy works.”―Alexander Stille “A wonderfully fun read.”―Dr. Robert Sapolsky "As funny as it is poignant. A must read for anyone who thinks they understand medicine, Italy, or humanity.”―Barbie Latza Nadeau After completing her medical training in New York, Susan Levenstein set off for a one year adventure in Rome. Forty years later, she is still practicing medicine in the Eternal City. In Dottoressa: An American Doctor in Rome Levenstein writes, with love and exasperation, about navigating her career through the renowned Italian tangle of brilliance and ineptitude, sexism and tolerance, rigidity and chaos. Part memoir―starting with her epic quest for an Italian medical license―and part portrait of Italy from a unique point of view, Dottoressa is packed with vignettes that illuminate the national differences in character, lifestyle, health, and health care between her two countries. Levenstein, who has been called “the wittiest internist on earth,” covers everything from hookup culture to neighborhood madmen, Italian hands-off medical training, bidets, the ironies of expatriation, and why Italians always pay their doctor’s bills.

Few have heard of Oterkpolu, Ghana, but for John Acquaye-Awah, MD, CCD, it was home. He was born in the tiny village and grew up immersed in its traditions and superstitions. There were very few health care choices available, and Acquaye-Awah recounts how frequently death shook the small community. Then tragedy touched his own family. Acquaye-Awah's brother was stricken with polio, and many believed he would never walk again. His family consulted a spiritualist, but nothing happened. Only when Acquaye-Awah's brother was finally admitted to a hospital did he get the help he needed. Acquaye-Awah witnessed the unforgettable joy on his brother's face when he took his first step-and he knew he wanted to help others feel that same joy. This was one of many instances that sparked Acquaye-Awah's fascination with science. In this spellbinding memoir, he tells the amazing story of how he left Oterkpolu and pursued a rigorous medical education. But even as he was traveling and studying, Acquaye-Awah never forgot the important lessons he learned in Oterkpolu-nor the debt he owed his community. The American Doctor chronicles his triumphant homecoming and his new mission to bring health care to the most remote of locations.

John Edward McCarville is from an Irish Catholic farming family in Iowa. He traveled to Arizona for his respiratory health and attended premedical classes at a college now known as Arizona State University (ASU). He graduated in medicine from Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska in 1951. He set up a general practice in 1953 next to an old-fashioned soda fountain pharmacy in Phoenix, Arizona.He warned the nation of the dangers of suffocation from plastic bags, became an avid pilot, was Flight Surgeon for the Arizona Army National Guard and examined a 9/11 terrorist. Major changes in the health care insurance industry propelled him from family practice into aviation medicine full time. Still in practice today, he is one of the few First Class FAA Medical Examiners in the state of Arizona. This biography provides an intricate detailed background of his Irish Catholic heritage and his life experiences with the market force dynamics of the healthcare industry from the depression era until present day.

Dr. Jack Jackson was the Paris physician of Hemingway and Fitzgerald

Experiences and observations of a Boston doctor who spent two years as the head of Saudi Arabia's most modern hospital.

Born in Italy during World War II, Salvatore Forcina was a young boy who survived all odds by living through his young childhood without any real or proper shelter. Like many Italians during this time, a month after turning eight years old his parents followed this migration to Argentina, a developing country at the time rich with natural resources and hope for a more stable life. Sent away to live with Redemptorist priests for seven long years as the only available option to study, this young boy struggled emotionally and psychologically with no social outlets and little emotional development. Salvatore' s dream to study medicine and help people propelled him to carry on and continue his education, eventually being educated and living on three different continents, each with a new language to learn and master. Despite his meager beginnings which provided no social and little educational opportunity and despite the many years and setbacks it took him to accomplish this, his goal was ultimately accomplished because of his sheer determination. This true-life story is motivating, uplifting and based on what genuine love of family can provide to someone.

New York Times bestseller Business Book of the Year--Association of Business Journalists From the New York Times bestselling author comes an eye-opening, urgent look at America's broken health care system--and the people who are saving it--now with a new Afterword by the author. "A must-read for every American." --Steve Forbes, editor-in-chief, FORBES One in five Americans now has medical debt in collections and rising health care costs today threaten every small business in America. Dr. Makary, one of the nation's leading health care experts, travels across America and details why health care has become a bubble. Drawing from on-the-ground stories, his research, and his own experience, The Price We Pay paints a vivid picture of the business of medicine and its elusive money games in need of a serious shake-up. Dr. Makary shows how so much of health care spending goes to things that have nothing to do with health and what you can do about it. Dr. Makary challenges the medical establishment to remember medicine's noble heritage of caring for people when they are vulnerable. The Price We Pay offers a road map for everyday Americans and business leaders to get a better deal on their health care, and profiles the disruptors who are innovating medical care. The movement to restore medicine to its mission, Makary argues, is alive and well--a mission that can rebuild the public trust and save our country from the crushing cost of health care.

A “lyrical, inspirational” story of doctors who changed the health care of an African nation (Tom Brokaw, author of The Greatest Generation) Dr. Dilan Ellegala arrives in Tanzania, shocked to find the entire country has just three brain surgeons for its population of forty-two million. Haydom Lutheran Hospital lacks even the most basic surgical tools, not even a saw to open a patient’s skull. Here, people with head injuries or brain tumors heal on their own or die. When confronted with a villager suffering from a severe head trauma, Dilan buys a tree saw from a farmer, sterilizes it, and then uses it to save the man’s life. Yet Dilan realizes that there are far too many neurosurgery patients for one person to save, and of course he will soon be leaving Tanzania. He needs to teach someone his skills. He identifies a potential student in Emmanuel Mayegga, a stubborn assistant medical officer who grew up in a mud hut. Though Mayegga has no medical degree, Dilan sees that Mayegga has the dexterity, intelligence, and determination to do brain surgery. Over six months, he teaches Mayegga how to remove tumors and treat hydrocephalus. And then, perhaps more important, Dilan teaches Mayegga how to pass on his newfound skills. Mayegga teaches a second Tanzanian, who teaches a third. It’s a case of teach-a-man-to-fish meets brain surgery. As he guides these Tanzanians to do things they never thought possible, Dilan challenges the Western medical establishment to do more than send vacationing doctors on short-term medical missions. He discovers solutions that could transform health care for two billion people across the world. A Surgeon in the Village is the incredible and riveting account of one man’s push to “train-forward”—to change our approach to aid and medical training before more lives are needlessly lost. His story is a testament to the transformational power of teaching and the ever-present potential for change. As many as seventeen million people die every year because of a shortage of surgeons, more than die from AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis combined. Dilan Ellegala and other visionaries are boldly proposing ways of saving lives.

A Doctor’s Journey tells the story of the journey towards the realization of a young Hungarian boy’s dream to be a doctor. Despite overwhelming adversity along the way, Laszlo Makk never stopped dreaming and hoping; he never gave up his trust in God. As a young man, Laszlo was blessed to survive World War II and the Hungarian Uprising of 1956; he eventually escaped to America, where he has found happiness as a proud U.S. citizen with the help of dear friends and a wonderful loving family. He earned his medical degree from Albany Medical College in New York and trained in Houston. Ultimately, Dr. Makk landed in Louisville, Kentucky, where he worked as a greatly respected pathologist for over forty years. With strong determination and hard work, he overcame many obstacles and became a renowned doctor who contributed to the world’s knowledge of cancer. In addition to surviving hepatitis, a liver transplant, and open heart surgery himself; he saw his wife through a fourteen-year battle with breast cancer—relying on his personal medical knowledge to identify the best in cancer care. Four sons and nine grandchildren carry on the Makk legacy of hard work and a determined pursuit of happiness.