What Doctors Feel
Danielle Ofri · first published 2013 · ISBN 9781299653528
An emergency physician examines the emotions that shape medical practice: fear, shame, anger, sorrow, and burnout. Ofri moves through her own mistakes and those of colleagues, showing how feelings aren't obstacles to good medicine but central to it. She argues that suppressing emotion in medicine doesn't create objectivity; it creates disconnection and error.
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Medical school will teach you to control emotion, but Ofri teaches you to integrate it. Understanding that your frustration with a patient or grief over a death affects your clinical judgment is essential for staying sane and staying ethical. This book normalizes the emotional labor of medicine.