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Delivering Doctor Amelia: The Story of a Gifted Young Obstetrician's Mistake and the Psychologist Who Helped Her
 
 
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Delivering Doctor Amelia: The Story of a Gifted Young Obstetrician's Mistake and the Psychologist Who Helped Her [Hardcover]

Dan Shapiro (Author)
4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)


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Book Description

July 15, 2003
Doctor Dan Shapiro, a writer and psychologist, takes us on a mesmerizing personal journey into his treatment of a brilliant young obstetrician.

Doctors in our society are often viewed as omnipotent, highly trained professionals who do not make mistakes, but they are, after all, still human. In Delivering Doctor Amelia, Dan Shapiro, who specializes in treating physicians, provides us with an intimate view of the vulnerability and sensitivity of doctors when their white coats come off. When Amelia Sorvino, a gifted obstetrician on Shapiro’s university hospital staff, comes to see him fearing that she has made a medical mistake, he finds himself struggling to help her overcome her self-doubts and fears, while reliving his own painful recovery from cancer at the hands of doctors just like her. As Amelia’s story unfolds, both doctor and patient are transported into their pasts. And through this journey of self-discovery, Amelia Sorvino becomes someone the reader is pulling for—a good woman whose career, family, and perhaps even life are in jeopardy.

Intense, moving, and deeply human, Shapiro’s narrative invites us inside the minds and pasts of two very different and yet intimately connected people: doctor and patient, psychologist and physician. Like the work of Kay Redfield Jamison and Oliver Sacks, Delivering Doctor Amelia is a riveting narrative about the nature of healing, the power of redemption, and the compelling vulnerability of the human condition.


Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

An assistant professor of clinical psychiatry at the University of Arizona who has written about his life-threatening bout with cancer (Mom's Marijuana), Shapiro specializes in treating physicians. He recounts his experience with a patient and colleague who became convinced that she was incompetent. Dr. Amelia Sorvino (the name and other details have been changed), a young obstetrician in her 30s and very popular with both patients and faculty members, suddenly stopped working and announced that she was no longer a doctor. After several visits, she told Shapiro about the incident that had driven her out of medicine. Because her patient desperately wanted a vaginal delivery, Amelia took too long to finally perform a C-section, a decision that may or may not have caused cerebral palsy in the newborn. She is now being sued for malpractice. In honest and perceptive writing, the author details the ups and downs of this therapeutic relationship and includes descriptions of events in Amelia's own words. Sympathetic to the psychological problems that were undermining his patient's career and marriage, Shapiro was, however, sometimes plagued by hostile feelings toward her. In this very sensitive and engrossing medical memoir, Shapiro explains how, after Amelia attempted suicide, he had her hospitalized for a brief period, and he then was able to help her back to emotional health.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

"Explores wth startling depth and immediacy the question of who shall heal the fallen physician." –Elle

"A terrific read: deeply touching, keenly analytical and warmly amusing. No reader will come away unaffected. And no reader will fail to gain new understanding of the intricate web of skills and attitudes--mind and heart--that constitute a good doctor." --Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

"Masterful storytelling. . . . Amelia's secret keeps the pages turning. . . . A fly-on-the-wall peek into a doctor-patient relationship. . . . a well-written, suspenseful story." --Austin Chronicle

"Like Oliver Sacks, Shapiro presents this medical case and its professional analysis from a unique perspective that the public seldom shares. His book is highly recommended for its naked revelations of the medical and psychiatric professions and its truths about the human condition, our frailties, and our vulnerabilities." --Library Journal (starred review)

“There are a few gifted doctors and therapists–the neurologist Oliver Sacks comes to mind–who manage to bring the narrative skills of a novelist to their discussions of the disorders that plague the human body and spirit. Dan Shapiro . . . appears to be one of them.” –Milwaukee Journal Sentinel 

“Shapiro clearly shines as a gifted physician and an expressive author. His writing ambles competently from page to page, dishing insights in carefully measured, melodic prose. The underlying message is one of human frailty, compassion and a better understanding that we all are somehow responsible for one another.” –Rocky Mountain News

“By plying his own hard-won wisdom at having been both terrified patient and uncertain healer, he succeeds not only in ‘delivering’ Dr. Amelia but also a compassionate and stirring look at the inner lives of medical professionals.” –St. Louis Times Dispatch

“Dan Shapiro . . . is a psychologist who specializes in treating troubled physicians. The message is important: Doctors are not omnipotent. As human beings, they sometimes make mistakes and need healing of their own.” –Atlanta Journal Constitution

“In a choice reminiscent of Kay Redfield Jamison in An Unquiet Mind, Shapiro writes about his own responses to Dr. Amelia's revelation. . . . Each season, book after book rolls toward the public pregnant with ruin. Here is a rare story about healing that seems earned.” –The Plain Dealer

“Honest and perceptive. . . . A very sensitive and engrossing medical memoir.” –Publishers Weekly

“[Shapiro] preserves an important message: Doctors are human beings who falter sometimes and must find solace before they resume their lives.” –Arizona Republic

“A fascinating view of the interactions between a psychologist and his patient during the therapeutic process. . . . A revealing narrative of self-discovery.” –Kirkus Reviews



From the Trade Paperback edition.

Product Details

  • Hardcover: 272 pages
  • Publisher: Harmony; 1st edition (July 15, 2003)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 1400048958
  • ISBN-13: 978-1400048953
  • Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 5.6 x 1 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 14.6 ounces
  • Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #404,063 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

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Average Customer Review
4.9 out of 5 stars (8 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A mystery and memoir that reads like a great novel, July 30, 2003
By 
"thegorman" (Omaha, Nebraska) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Delivering Doctor Amelia: The Story of a Gifted Young Obstetrician's Mistake and the Psychologist Who Helped Her (Hardcover)
I saw the Library Journal starred review that compared the Shapiro to Oliver Sacks (my favorite writer) and decided to pick up Delivering Doctor Amelia, what a great read! The book is structured around roughly 30 therapy sessions between an eloquent psychologist (the writer) and his patient, whom he describes as a gifted obstetrician. At first the obstetrician won't say why she's come into treatment and as her story unfolds and the stakes go up you can't help but get sucked in. In my case, I read it over three nights and ended up sleepless. This book takes you inside the minds of a psychologist and a physician and shows how they talk and think when no one else is around.

I hate when people ruin stories so I won't give away the ending, but I will say that the book pays off -- I cried at the end.

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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars a great read, August 1, 2003
By 
"estherkim" (Tucson, AZ United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Delivering Doctor Amelia: The Story of a Gifted Young Obstetrician's Mistake and the Psychologist Who Helped Her (Hardcover)
If you are a fan of the narrative non-fiction genre, you will love this book. The author does a wonderful job of telling Dr. Amelia's story through his sessions with her, but also relates it to his own experiences of being a patient himself. It's hard not to be drawn to Dr. Amelia's character - and identify with her and what she's going through. Beautifully written, Dan Shapiro tells this story in a way that's clever and humorous, and has you captivated from the start.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars An incredible story about being human, April 22, 2006
This review is from: Delivering Doctor Amelia: The Story of a Gifted Young Obstetrician's Mistake and the Psychologist Who Helped Her (Hardcover)
This is such a wonderful read on so many levels. The title is a perfect play on words, considering the doctor's specialty. The actual story of the gifted ob's misjudgement is fascinating. The account of the therapy which restored her ability to function professionally is equally fascinating. It is tremendously life-affirming to see the humanity of the doctor. Realizing how deeply she cares makes me appreciate my professional colleagues even more. Too often in today's healthcare environment we see people focused on billing and it is easy to lose sight of the sincere desire to help and do good which draws people to the practice of medicine. This book should be required reading for every medical school and residency program.
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Inside This Book (learn more)
First Sentence:
Dr. Amelia Sorvino's reputation preceded her. Read the first page
Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
tone strip, late decelerations
Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Blackett's Ridge, Dan Shapiro, Miranda Paulsen, Bear Canyon, Catalina Mountains, Arthur Klein, Tasty Turkey, Amelia Sorvino, Dana Farber, Delivering Doctor Ameba, Delivering Doctor Amelia, Jason Sells, Los Angeles, Ray Romero, San Antonio, Scott Freeman, Thank God, Uncle Rick, Betsy Lehman, Bob Dobbs, Java City, New England, South Africa, Waverly House
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