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Recommended Books

Topic Title Author
Synopsis Biography & Autobiography In Shock: My Journey from Death to Recovery and the Redemptive Power of Hope Rana Awdish, MD, FCCP

Dr. Rana Awdish never imagined that an emergency trip to the hospital would result in hemorrhaging nearly all of her blood volume and losing her unborn first child. But after her first visit, Dr. Awdish spent months fighting for her life, enduring consecutive major surgeries and experiencing multiple overlapping organ failures. At each step of the recovery process, Awdish was faced with something even more unexpected: repeated cavalier behavior from her fellow physicians—indifference following human loss, disregard for anguish and suffering, and an exacting emotional distance.

Hauntingly perceptive and beautifully written, In Shock allows the reader to transform alongside Awidsh and watch what she discovers in our carefully-cultivated, yet often misguided, standard of care. Awdish comes to understand the fatal flaws in her profession and in her own past actions as a physician while achieving, through unflinching presence, a crystalline vision of a new and better possibility for us all.

As Dr. Awdish finds herself up against the same self-protective partitions she was trained to construct as a medical student and physician, she artfully illuminates the dysfunction of disconnection. Shatteringly personal, and yet wholly universal, she offers a brave road map for anyone navigating illness while presenting physicians with a new paradigm and rationale for embracing the emotional bond between doctor and patient.


Synopsis Faith and Spirituality Healing Connection: The Story of a Physician's Search for the Link Between Faith & Health Harold G Koenig, M.D with Gregg Lewis

The name Harold G. Koenig is well known in the fast-growing field of spirituality and health. Founder and director of the widely respected Duke University Center for Theology, Spirituality, and Health, Dr. Koenig is recognized worldwide for his groundbreaking work in medical science and religious faith. In this book—now available in paperback—he shares his remarkable personal story and shows how personal trials became the catalyst for his pioneering research.

In part one, he describes his turbulent youth: growing up on a California vineyard, college days of experimentation during the 1970s, adventures as a student researcher in Africa with Jane Goodall, an emotional breakdown, expulsion from medical school for disruptive behavior, battling mental illness as a street person in San Francisco. He refers to his ongoing battle with a chronic and debilitating physical disease in terms of the insights it gives him for his work, and he recounts the striking realization of God's call, the people and events that helped him refine a vision into a mission, and the subsequent professional opposition that resided alongside his success.

Part two draws on the real-life examples of former patients and summarizes Koenig's most important findings concerning the impact of Christian faith on mental and physical health, encapsulated by the statement: religious faith and practice are connected to mental and physical health.

In part three he challenges individuals and the American church to consider the implications of the research and to develop constructive ways of implementing the healing connection that can be found in faith.


Synopsis Faith and Spirituality Walking with Jesus in Healthcare Amaryllis Sanchez Wohlever, MD

A simple prayer with a patient transformed this doctor's experience of caring for the sick. What had been good doctor-patient encounters turned into meaningful human interactions where hurts are shared and comfort made real. Aware of Jesus' presence, compassion, and love, patient and doctor alike have experienced a new way to relate, to heal, and to live.

This 120-day devotional is for all who care for the physical, emotional, and/or spiritual needs of others. It's for doctors, nurses, chaplains, counselors, Hospice workers, therapists (of body and spirit), MA's, NP's, PA's, dentists, dietitians, life coaches, ancillary staff in hospitals and clinics, technicians, and all caregivers! In the hustle and bustle of modern healthcare, Dr. Mari's reflections on the Gospel according to Luke (the physician) offer a transforming message for medical professionals and caregivers.

Join Dr. Mari, Dr. Luke, and the Great Physician and learn to care for people from the heart. No more ministering to people with overwhelming needs from a depleted soul and on your own strength. Learn to abide in Jesus, the Healer, and you will minister out of His abundance and in the power of the Spirit.

"As you take this journey with Dr. Mari, you will sense a friend alongside of you ... sharing your struggles, lifting your spirits, reminding you of your true calling, and pointing you back toward your first love! Healthcare students, professionals, and their spouses are certain to be encouraged and inspired as they take this 120-day walk with Jesus in healthcare!"
 


Synopsis Health and Wellness The Aging Brain: Proven Steps to Prevent Dementia and Sharpen Your Mind Timothy R. Jennings, MD

While growing older is inevitable, many of the troubles we associate with aging--including dementia, disability, and an increased dependence on others--are not. The choices we make now can help us to maintain our vitality, a sharp mind, and our independence as we age.

Filled with simple, everyday actions we can take to avoid disease, promote vitality, and prevent dementia and late onset Alzheimer's, The Aging Brain is an easy-to-use guide to maintaining brain and body health throughout our lives. Based on solid, up-to-date scientific research, the interventions explained in this book not only prevent progression toward dementia even in those who have already shown mild cognitive impairment, they also reduce disability and depression and keep people living independently longer than those who do not practice these methods.

For anyone hoping to slow the aging process, as well as anyone who acts as a caregiver to someone at risk of or already beginning to suffer from dementia and other age-related diseases, this book offers a hopeful, healthy way forward.


Synopsis Health and Wellness How Not To Die Michael Greger M.D. FACLM and Gene Stone

In How Not to Die, Dr. Michael Greger, the internationally-renowned nutrition expert, physician, and founder of NutritionFacts.org, examines the fifteen top causes of premature death in America--heart disease, various cancers, diabetes, Parkinson's, high blood pressure, and more--and explains how nutritional and lifestyle interventions can sometimes trump prescription pills and other pharmaceutical and surgical approaches to help prevent and reverse these diseases, freeing us to live healthier lives.
In addition to showing what to eat to help treat the top fifteen causes of death, How Not to Die includes Dr. Greger's Daily Dozen -a checklist of the twelve foods we should consume every day. Full of practical, actionable advice and surprising, cutting edge nutritional science, these doctor's orders are just what we need to live longer, healthier lives.


Synopsis Lifestyle The Blue Zones, Second Edition: 9 Lessons for Living Longer From the People Who've Lived the Longest Dan Buettner

Bestselling author, longevity expert, and National Geographic Explorer Dan Buettner reports on health, fitness, diet, and aging, drawing on his research from extraordinarily long-lived communities--Blue Zones--around the globe. Buettner has launched a major public health initiative to transform cities based on principles from this book, an updated and expanded edition of his bestselling classic on longevity. His prescriptions for lifestyle, nutrition, outlook, and stress-coping practices will add years to your life and life to your years.  The latest Blue Zone is Ikaria, Greece, where strong, sweet wine, family, and a Mediterranean diet all play a role in longer life. Also new in this book is a reading group guide, designed for groups to read about, discuss, and implement many of the simple changes advocated for better health. A long, healthy life is no accident. It begins with good genes, but it also depends on good habits. If you adopt the right lifestyle, experts say, chances are you may live up to a decade longer. Buettner has led teams of researchers across the globe--from Costa Rica to Sardinia, Italy, to Okinawa, Japan and beyond--to uncover the secrets of Blue Zones. He found that the recipe for longevity is deeply intertwined with community, lifestyle, and spirituality. People live longer and healthier by embracing a few simple but powerful habits, and by creating the right community around themselves. In The Blue Zones, Second Edition, Buettner has blended his lifestyle formula with the latest longevity research to inspire lasting, behavioral change and add years to your life. Region by region, Buettner reveals the "secrets" of longevity through stories of his travels and interviews with some of the most remarkable--and happily long-living people on the planet. It's not coincidence that the way they eat, interact with each other, shed stress, heal themselves, avoid disease, and view their world yield them more good years of life. Buettner's easy to follow "best practices" and list of healthy lifestyle choices from the Blue Zones will empower readers to live longer, healthier, more fulfilling lives.


Synopsis Personal Finance The Total Money Makeover: Classic Edition: A Proven Plan for Financial Fitness Dave Ramsey

New York Times bestseller! More than Five million copies sold. You CAN take control of your money. Build up your money muscles with America’s favorite finance coach.

By now, you’ve heard all the nutty get-rich-quick schemes, the fiscal diet fads that leave you with a lot of kooky ideas but not a penny in your pocket. Hey, if you’re tired of the lies and sick of the false promises, take a look at this—it’s the simplest, most straightforward game plan for completely making over your money habits. And it’s based on results, not pie-in-the-sky fantasies. With The Total Money Makeover: Classic Edition, you’ll be able to: 

  • Design a sure-fire plan for paying off all debt—meaning cars, houses, everything
  • Recognize the 10 most dangerous money myths (these will kill you)
  • Secure a big, fat nest egg for emergencies and retirement!

Includes new, expanded “Dave Rants” sidebars tackle marriage conflict, college debt, and more. All-new forms and back-of-the-book resources to make Total Money Makeover a reality."


Synopsis Positive Psychology The Happiness Advantage: How a Positive Brain Fuels Success in Work and Life Shawn Achor

In the book that inspired one of the most popular TED Talks of all time, New York Times bestselling author Shawn Achor reveals how rewiring our brain for happiness helps us achieve more in our careers and our relationships and as students, leaders, and parents.
Conventional wisdom holds that once we succeed, we’ll be happy; that once we get that great job, win that next promotion, lose those five pounds, happiness will follow. But the science reveals this formula to be backward: Happiness fuels success, not the other way around.
Research shows that happy employees are more productive, more creative, and better problem solvers than their unhappy peers. And positive people are significantly healthier and less stressed and enjoy deeper social interaction than the less positive people around them.
Drawing on his original research—including one of the largest studies of happiness ever conducted—and work in boardrooms and classrooms across forty-two countries, Achor shows us how to rewire our brains for positivity and optimism to reap the happiness advantage in our lives, our careers, and even our health.  His strategies include:

  •  The Tetris Effect: how to retrain our brains to spot patterns of possibility so we can see and seize opportunities all around us
  •  Social Investment: how to earn the dividends of a strong social support network
  •  The Ripple Effect: how to spread positive change within our teams, companies, and families

 By turns fascinating, hopeful, and timely, The Happiness Advantage reveals how small shifts in our mind-set and habits can produce big gains at work, at home, and elsewhere.


Synopsis Positive Psychology Compassionomics. (The Revolutionary Scientific Evidence that Caring Makes a Difference) Stephen Trzeciak and Anthony Mazzarelli

A 34-year-old man fighting for his life in the Intensive Care Unit is on an artificial respirator for over a month. Could it be that his chance of getting off the respirator is not how much his nurses know, but rather how much they care?
A 75-year-old woman is heroically saved by a major trauma center only to be discharged and fatally struck by a car while walking home from the hospital. Could a lack of compassion from the hospital staff have been a factor in her death?
Compelling new research shows that health care is in the midst of a compassion crisis.
But the pivotal question is this: Does compassion really matter?
In Compassionomics: The Revolutionary Scientific Evidence that Caring Makes a Difference, physician scientists Stephen Trzeciak and Anthony Mazzarelli uncover the eye-opening data that compassion could be a wonder drug for the 21st century.
Now, for the first time ever, a rigorous review of the science - coupled with captivating stories from the front lines of medicine - demonstrates that human connection in health care matters in astonishing ways. Never before has all the evidence been synthesized together in one place.
You will see compelling evidence that:
- Compassion has vast benefits for patients across a wide variety of conditions
- Missed opportunities for compassion can have devastating health effects
- Compassion can help reverse the cost crisis in health care
- Compassion can be an antidote for burnout among health care providers
- 40 seconds of compassion can save a life
After seeing all the evidence, the answer is crystal clear: Compassion matters...in not only meaningful but measurable ways.


Synopsis Positive Psychology Wellbeing Eugene Kim, Brenessa Lindeman

This book provides a detailed guide for surgeons and surgical trainees on a variety of facets relevant to wellbeing, and how to maintain wellbeing throughout a career in academic surgery. Individual and external factors relevant to wellbeing are both covered in relation to the surgeon. Aspects covered include healthcare roles, personal factors, socio-cultural factors, the regulatory business, and payer environment. Potential strategies for managing welfare including considerations for both students and residents are provided, as are methodologies for studying aspects of wellbeing.    

Wellbeing offers a practical and personal insight on maintaining wellbeing in academic surgery and is a valuable resource for all practicing and trainee surgeons across a variety of disciplines, as well as those who are interested in studying factors affecting the wellbeing of surgical specialists.

  • Describes approaches to studying physician wellbeing


Synopsis Positive Psychology The Good Life Robert Waldinger, MD and Marc Schulz, PhD

New York Times Bestseller

What makes for a happy life, a fulfilling life? A good life? According to the directors of the Harvard Study of Adult Development, the longest scientific study of happiness ever conducted, the answer to these questions may be closer than you realize.

What makes a life fulfilling and meaningful? The simple but surprising answer is: relationships. The stronger our relationships, the more likely we are to live happy, satisfying, and overall healthier lives. In fact, the Harvard Study of Adult Development reveals that the strength of our connections with others can predict the health of both our bodies and our brains as we go through life.

The invaluable insights in this book emerge from the revealing personal stories of hundreds of participants in the Harvard Study as they were followed year after year for their entire adult lives, and this wisdom is bolstered by research findings from this and many other studies. Relationships in all their forms—friendships, romantic partnerships, families, coworkers, tennis partners, book club members, Bible study groups—all contribute to a happier, healthier life. And as The Good Life shows us, it’s never too late to strengthen the relationships you have, and never too late to build new ones.

Dr. Waldinger’s TED Talk about the Harvard Study, “What Makes a Good Life,” has been viewed more than 42 million times and is one of the ten most-watched TED talks ever. The Good Life has been praised by bestselling authors Jay Shetty (“Robert Waldinger and Marc Schulz lead us on an empowering quest towards our greatest need: meaningful human connection”), Angela Duckworth (“In a crowded field of life advice and even life advice based on scientific research, Schulz and Waldinger stand apart”), and happiness expert Laurie Santos (“Waldinger and Schulz are world experts on the counterintuitive things that make life meaningful”).

With warmth, wisdom, and compelling life stories, The Good Life shows us how we can make our lives happier and more meaningful through our connections to others.




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