Doctors in the Movies: Boil the Water and Just Say Aah (Hardcover)

by Peter E. Dans (Author) "Myth, like denial, is central to human existence..." (more)
Key Phrases: migrant health clinic, woman intern, movie doctors, New York, United States, Johns Hopkins (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review
"Dans brilliantly uses movies to illuminate history and societal attitudes about medicine and doctors during six decades. This is both a wonderfully entertaining book and a valuable work of social history." -- Kenneth M. Ludmerer, M.D.

"Dr. Dans provides a useful and fascinating guide to movies about medicine, informed by a critical intelligence that's equally sophisticated on hospitals AND Hollywood. -- Michael Medved, syndicated radio host, former chief film critic of the NY Post

...I finished several chapters and I am really enjoying it. What a job of research! And I'm a movie buff. -- Gen. Colin L. Powell, Alexandria, Virginia, May 23, 2000

By Ann Hornaday, Sun film critic

Peter E. Dans, M.D., wants you to know he's only one man, who, like every man, has his point of view. So if you read his new book, "Doctors in the Movies", bear in mind that it's a highly personal take on some of the most enduring icons in American film: doctors, hospitals and the institution of medicine. "I make no pretense that this is anything but my opinions," Dans says. "But being someone who is interested in the evolution of medical care and health care in America, it seemed a nice .. hook for some of these things." Dans has written the "Physician at the Movies" column for The Pharos, a national quarterly medical journal, for 10 years and began writing the book four years ago. Dans, an internist, has always had an interest in the dynamics of medical care delivery. Today, he teaches medical ethics at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. He has also served as a health policy fellow in the U.S. Senate and established Hopkins' office of medical practice evaluation.

-Dans has a great deal of fun in "Doctors in the Movies" in an appendix dedicated to common cliches, like the lines "Boil the water" and "Just say Aah." -- Baltimore Sun, January 2, 2000

Product Description
Myth, like denial, is central to human existence and no one has made myths better than Hollywood, shaping how we think about ourselves and those around us by reinforcing stereotypes or creating new ones. This book is about how Hollywood has portrayed medicine over the last sixty years, as seen through the eyes of a board-certified internist on the faculty of Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

The author blends brief historical context with an in-depth discussion of more than seventy films that illustrate what the public has valued in doctoring, the changing attitudes towards science, and the evolution of issues that still confront and divide us. Assisted suicide, abortion, concerns about health care costs and impersonal high-tech medicine are all in evidence. Two chapters deal with the virtual invisibility of women and Black doctors in film. The book has an extensive filmography and bibliography inviting readers to explore the subject further.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 408 pages
• Publisher: Medi-ed Pr (January 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0936741147
• ISBN-13: 978-0936741147
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.1 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.9 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #912,534 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Movie buff's delight, January 27, 2000

By A Customer

This book is fun and compelling. I'm not sure what I enjoyed more -- his dry wit and frank assessments of movies obscure and well-known -- or his physician's insight of medicine and its myths.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars what a FUN book!, June 28, 2000

By	Dot Sparer (Athens, Georgia) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Everything about this book is entertaining -- its theme (we've always had strong opinions about doctors), its subject matter (movies, good and bad), and its style (peter dans has a wonderful dry sense of humor). It's also an enlightening book. It lets us look back at what our standards were--for doctors and for movies--and proves once again that times change and life is much more fun if we don't take ourselves too seriously. Doctors and movie buffs will enjoy this book most of all. Everyone else will find it a great read or a great gift.