This is a book every premed, especially those who are interviewing, needs to read right now.
The Health Care Handbook, by Elisabeth Askin and Nathan Moore, both medical students at Washington University in St. Louis, is a guide to modern health care and the changes introduced by the Affordable Care Act. Written in laymen’s terms, it clearly examines how our health care system works, its current shortfalls, and how it could be fixed in unbiased language. The handbook is exhaustive in its content as well, covering lesser discussed topics like pharmaceuticals, malpractice, and hospital administration issues in addition to more popular issues.
These days, premeds are expected to have a good understanding of the entire field they are entering. Health care is growing increasingly complex and medical schools want to know that their future physician prospects have a healthy grasp of its entirety. Wanting to treat patients in need is great, but if you’re not aware of the insurance liabilities and hospital restrictions that go along with that treatment, you are going to come off as naive. Of course, medical schools won’t be expecting you to have the mastery equivalent to an MPH degree, but a surveyed awareness of health care is certainly a plus. The Health Care Handbook gives you those insights. So many, in fact, that it’s hard to keep track of them all.
Premeds who are interviewing can also benefit greatly from this book. You’ll be able to read up on useful tidbits of information that you can drop into interviews to support your answers. Here are some choice quotes: “In 2010, six out of the top 10 leading causes of death were from chronic diseases…and 50% of Americans adults live with a chronic disease diagnosis.”; “a full quarter of Medicare spending goes to care in the last year of life.”; “In 2009, the AHA found, Medicare compensated only 90% of costs, and Medicaid compensated only 89% of costs; combined, this made up $36.5 billion in lost [hospital] revenue.” Using any one of these quotes, or the hundreds more contained within the book, will make you appear well-read, well-informed, and just plain smarter during your interviews.
Moreover, The Health Care Handbook reveals just how complex the health care system is. Nothing in medicine is clear-cut. When dealing with the care of our bodies, psychology, sociology, and biology grapple with evidence-based science, economics, logistics, and so much more. As the book aptly states, “when it comes to health care, it’s always more complicated than it first appears.”
Get a handle on that complexity. Buy this book. You’ll thank yourself that you did later.
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Nathan-Moore/e/B008D96XKQ/
Barnes and Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-health-care-handbook-elisabeth-askin/1112760085?ean=2940015114300
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
Image may be NSFW.Clik here to view.
