Customer Reviews

Cancer in the Community: Class and Medical Authority

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Martha Balshem's experience in Tannerstown, which she writes about in this book, is still relevant today. As an educator working with baccalaureate level students in population-based settings, I can attest that the concept of medical (or healthcare) authority is alive and well, just as it was at the time Dr. Balshem's book was published, just shy of 2 decades ago. It's not that we intend to come across as authoritative, but situations, perceptions, and special knowledge sometimes push that impression.

In this sensitive and retrospective account, Dr. Balshem reveals how the unwillingness of the CAN-DO grant personnel to listen to the needs or insights of the Tannerstowners leads to a divide that disallows positive effort or movement in a community experiencing high rates of cancer. From that population-based approach to the more intimate story of John and Jennifer's experience with a physician, the reader gets the full gamut of how medical authority can play out.

With its current relevance, I require this read of all my population-based students followed by an in-class discussion of some of the issues it raises. Students then write a reflection about how the message of this book will impact their current practice as students and their future practice as nurses.