Accad masterfully immerses the reader in an imaginary but academically rigorous dialogue between the philosopher Socrates and Dr. Geoffrey Rose, one of the major architects of population medicine.
A must read for clinicians, medical students, public health officials, and anyone concerned about health care today.
The book explains...
- How the main ideas behind population medicine were constructed on the basis of paradoxical observations regarding high blood pressure.
- How epidemiological considerations have led proponents of population medicine to distort our fundamental conceptions of health and disease.
- How an undue preoccupation with the "social determinants of health" is turning medical care into a political activity.
- How population medicine fits within the secular trend of bureaucratization of medicine, and how a population-centric approach to care is undermining traditional medical ethics.
Great insights. Lively dialogue!
"Using an imaginative title, intriguing format, compelling dialogue, and vibrant writing, this little gem provides an incisive analysis of population medicine. Kudos to Accad for a great read."
Herbert L. Fred, MD, MACP
Emeritus Professor of Medicine, McGovern Medical School, Houston, Texas
"With humor, creativity, and a deep understanding of philosophy and epidemiology, Accad takes us back in time to make sense of the burgeoning population health movement afoot today. A must read."
Lisa Rosenbaum, MD
National Correspondent, New England Journal of Medicine, and Cardiologist, Brigham & Women's Hospital
"In Moving Mountains, an erudite yet terse discussion of the tussle between the goals of those promoting health of populations and those striving to help a single person, cardiologist Dr. Michel Accad moves his readers to think."
John Mandrola, MD
Practicing Electrophysiologist and Chief Cardiology Correspondent for Medscape
"With clever use of logic and philosophy, and lucid prose, Accad takes Gauss and population medicine to task, asserting the supremacy of reason over statistics."
Saurabh Jha, MBBS, MRCS, MS
Associate Professor of Radiology, University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine
"In this brilliant thought experiment, Dr. Accad provides a lens through which most 'medical research' can be seen as biased, agenda-driven fake news, and population health management is revealed to be a collectivist farce."
G. Keith Smith, MD
Co-Founder, Surgery Center of Oklahoma and Free Market Medical Association
About the Author
Michel Accad, MD, practices internal medicine and cardiology in San Francisco. He regularly publishes articles in peer-reviewed journals on philosophical aspects of healthcare and medicine. He has given lectures nationally and internationally, and his perspective is frequently solicited in media interviews and podcasts.
Dr. Accad obtained his bachelor of science degree in mathematics from the University of Texas at Austin, and his medical degree from the McGovern Medical School in Houston, Texas. He completed his training in cardiology at the University of California San Francisco.
Lately, Dr. Accad has concentrated his scholarly focus on the philosophical underpinnings of medical science and medical ethics, exploring how faulty conceptions of health, disease and the nature of the patient-doctor relationship are at the root of the healthcare crisis. His commentaries on these issues and on healthcare economics also appear on his blog AlertAndOriented.com.