Essays from the Heart

This engrossing and enlightening collection of essays is written by a well-known and respected cardiologist who served as Professor and Chairman of the Department of Medicine at Emery University School of Medicine for nearly 30 years. Reflecting Dr. Hurst's conviction that good medicine requires awareness of the emotional heart as well as the anatomic-physiologic heart, these short essays focus on the human side of the profession. They explore issues that are not usually addressed in more scientific tomes, but that all practicing cardiologists can recognize and relate to, and that impinge on both the patient's well-being and the cardiologist's work. In nearly 50 essays, Dr. Hurst writes on the values he feels strongly about, on the importance of always striving to learn more, and on the critical necessity of seeing patients as fellow human beings. Many of these essays are published here for the first time, while others have been selected from previous volumes because of their current relevance.