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Doctor of Medicine (MD, from the Latin Medicinæ Doctor meaning "Teacher of Medicine") is a doctoral degree for physicians granted by medical schools. It is a professional doctorate / first professional degree (qualifying degree) in some countries, including the United States and Canada, although training is entered after obtaining from 90 to 120 credit hours of university level work (see second entry degree) and in most cases after having obtained a Bachelors Degree. In other countries, such as India, the United Kingdom, Germany, and Sri Lanka, the MD is an advanced academic research degree more similar to a PhD. In India, Britain, Ireland, and many Commonwealth nations, the medical degree is instead the MBBS i.e., Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MBChB, BM BCh, MB BCh, MBBS, BMBS, BMed, BM) and is equivalent to the MD and DO degrees in the U.S. system.

History of the medical degree[link]

According to Sir John Bagot Glubb, Syed Faride and S. M. Imamuddin, the first medical schools to issue academic degrees and diplomas were the teaching Bimaristan (Hospitals) of the medieval Islamic world. The first of these institutions was opened in Baghdad during the time of Harun al-Rashid. They then appeared in Egypt from 872 and then in Islamic Spain, Persia and the Maghreb thereafter. Physicians and surgeons at these hospital-universities gave lectures on Medicine to medical students and then a medical diploma or degree was issued to students who were qualified to be practicing physicians.^[1][2][3]

According to Douglas Guthrie,^[4] who bases his account on L Thorndike,^[5] medical men were first called "Doctor" at the Medical School of Salerno. He states that the Emperor Frederick II decreed in 1221 that no one should practice medicine until he had been publicly examined and approved by the masters of Salerno. The course lasted 5 years, and to start one had to be 21 years old and show proof of legitimacy and of three years study of logic. The course was followed by a year of supervised practice. After the laureation ceremony the practitioners could call themselves "magister" or "doctor."

Academic degrees for physicians by country[link]

United States and Canada[link]

The first medical schools that granted the MD degree were Columbia, Penn, Harvard, Maryland, and McGill.^[6] These first few North American medical schools that were established were (for the most part) founded by physicians and surgeons who had been trained in England and Scotland. University medical education in England culminated with the MB qualification, and in Scotland the MD, until in the mid-19th century the public bodies who regulated medical practice at the time required practitioners in Scotland as well as England to hold the dual Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery degrees (MB BS/MBChB/MB BChir/BM BCh etc.). North American Medical schools switched to the tradition of the Ancient universities of Scotland and began granting the M.D. title rather than the MB beginning in the late 18th century. The Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York (which at the time was referred to as King's College of Medicine) was the first American University to grant the MD degree instead of the MB.^[7]

In the United States, MDs are awarded by medical schools accredited by the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME), an independent body sponsored by the Association of American Medical Colleges and the American Medical Association (AMA).^[8][9]

Admission to medical schools in the United States is highly competitive, with about 17,800 out of approximately 47,000 applicants receiving at least one acceptance to any medical school in recent application years. Before entering medical school, students must complete a four year undergraduate degree and take the Medical College Admission Test (MCAT). Before graduating from a medical school and achieving the degree of Medical Doctor, most schools require their students to take the United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE) Step 1 and both the Clinical Knowledge and Clinical Skills parts of Step 2. The M.D. degree is typically earned in four years. Following the awarding of the MD, physicians who wish to practice in the United States are required to complete at least one internship year (PGY-1) and pass the USMLE Step 3. In order to receive Board Eligible or Board Accredited status in a specialty of medicine such as general surgery or internal medicine, then undergo additional specialized training in the form of a residency. Those who wish to further specialize in areas such as cardiology or interventional radiology then complete a fellowship. Depending upon the physician's chosen field, residencies and fellowships involve an additional three to eight years of training after obtaining the M.D. This can be lengthened with additional research years, which can last one, two, or more years. The Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine or D.O. degree is the only other legal and professional equivalent to the M.D. degree in the United States and some parts of Canada. The differences between the M.D. and the D.O. degrees lie in the distinctive osteopathic philosophy and osteopathic manipulative treatment (OMT). In Canada, the M.D. is the basic medical degree required to practice medicine. McGill University Faculty of Medicine is the only medical school in Canada to award M.D., C.M. degrees (abbreviated MDCM). MDCM is from the Latin "Doctorem Medicinae et Chirurgiae Magistrum" meaning "Doctor of Medicine and Master of Surgery".

Research physicians[link]

Even though the M.D. and D.O. are first professional degrees and not doctorates of research (i.e., a Ph.D.), many holders of the M.D. or D.O. degree conduct clinical and basic scientific research and publish in peer-reviewed journals during training and after graduation. Combined medical and research training is offered through programs granting MD/PhD or DO/PhD degrees. The National Institutes of Health through its Medical Scientist Training Program funds MD/PhD training programs at many universities. Some MDs and DOs choose a research career and receive funding from the NIH as well as other sources such as the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. A few even go on to become Nobel Laureates.^[10] The United States Department of Education and the National Science Foundation do not include the M.D. or other professional doctorates among the degrees that are equivalent to research doctorates.^[11][12]

UK, Ireland and some Commonwealth countries[link]

In the UK, Ireland and many Commonwealth countries, the MD is a postgraduate research degree in medicine. At some universities, this takes the form of a first doctorate, analogous to the PhD, awarded upon submission of a thesis and a successful viva. The thesis may consist of new research undertaken on a full- or part-time basis, with much less supervision (in the UK) than for a PhD, or a portfolio of previously published work.^[13]

In order to be eligible to apply for an MD degree from a UK or Commonwealth University one must hold either an MBBS, MBChB, or an equivalent US-MD degree and must usually have at least 5-years of postgraduate experience. Therefore graduates from the MBBS or MBChB degrees do not hold doctorates, however physicians holding these degrees are referred to as 'Doctor' as they are fully licensed as primary care physicians upon the completion of mandatory clinical internship minimum of one full year after graduating from the medical college. In some commonwealth nations these interns are designated as as House surgeons. Total duration to obtain MBBS degree is about 6 years that includes 5 years of course work and minimum one year of Compulsory rotating clinical internship.

At some other universities (especially older institutions such as Oxford, Cambridge and St Andrews) the MD is a higher doctorate (similar to a DSc) awarded upon submission of a portfolio of published work representing a substantial contribution to medical research.^[14]

In the case where the MD is awarded (either as a first or higher doctorate) for previously published research, the candidate is usually required to be either a graduate or a full-time member of staff, of several years' standing of the university in question.^[15]

The entry-level first professional degree in these countries for the practice of medicine is that of Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS, MB, MB BCh BAO, BMBS, MBBChir, or MBChB). This degree typically requires between four and six years of study and clinical training, and is equivalent to the North American MD degree.

The University of Melbourne^[16] in Australia introduced the North American MD degree in 2011 for graduates of the Bachelor of Biomedicine and Bachelor of Science New Generation degrees. The university is the first in Australia to leave the Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) and offer the Doctor of Medicine (MD) as a first professional degree in medicine rather than as a research degree. The first cohort of MD students from the university will graduate in 2014, one year after the last graduating cohort of MBBS students. The University of Melbourne renamed its previous research MD degree to Doctor of Medical Science (DMedSc), which will distinguish the new MD graduates from the doctors who obtain the research degree.

The University of Western Australia from 2014 will begin a similar 4 year post graduate course with graduates qualifying with an MD rather than the MBBS as it stood up until 2011.

The University of Queensland is planning on also introducing the MD to replace the current Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery.^[17]

Argentina[link]

In Argentina the First Degree of Physician or Medic Title (Título de Médico)^[18] is equivalent to the North American M. D. Degree with 6 year of intensive studies followed by usually three or four years of the residency as a major specialty in a particular empiric field, compounded of internships, social services and sporadic research. Only by holding a Medical Title the postgraduate student might apply for the Doctor degree through a Doctorate in Medicine program approved by the National Commission for University Evaluation and Accreditation.^[19]

India[link]

The MBBS degree represents the first (graduation) level of training required to be licensed as a physicians, and the MS OR MD degree is a higher postgraduate degree, representative of specialty training. The equivalent training in the US or Canada would be completion of a medical (post-graduate) degree. Eligibility for the MS or MD course is restricted to medical graduates holding the MBBS degree. The MBBS course is for five and a half years, and training is obtained in medical disciplines (e.g.: Internal Medicine, Radiology, Pathology, etc.). After three years of study and the successful completion of an examination, which includes both theoretical and practical elements, in a pre-clinical or clinical subject of a non-surgical nature the candidate receives MD degree, were as in a pre-clinical or clinical subject of a surgical nature i.e,anatomy ,general surgery, orthopaedics and gynaecology the candidate receives the equivalent degree Master of Surgery (MS).

The research element is not prominent in India, as this is primarily a clinical qualification resembling the professional doctorates of the USA. In general surgery, orthopaedics and gynaecology and in a pre-clinical subject like anatomy the equivalent degree is Master of Surgery (MS).

A third qualification, termed DNB [Diplomate of National Board], is considered equivalent to the MD and MS degrees. This can be obtained by passing the exam conducted by the National Board of Examinations after completing 3 years of post-MBBS residency training in teaching hospitals recognised by the board.

After obtaining the first postgraduate degree, that is MD/MS/DNB, one can go for further specialisation in medical or surgical fields. This requires three years of additional training and study and then passing an examination, both theory and practical, and the degree awarded is DM (Doctor of Medicine), like DM in Cardiology, Neurology, Nephrology, Gastroenterology, etc. For surgical subspecialities the degree awarded is MCh (Magister Chirurgiae), like MCh in Cardiac thoracicSurgery, Neurosurgery, etc. A third qualification in subspecialities is DNB (superspecialties), offered by National Board of Examinations, like DNB in Cardiology, Neurology, Cardiac Surgery, Neurosurgery, etc.

The MCh degrees are for super-specialties in medicine and are very high ranked/prestigious.

In Ayurveda, B.A.M.S in Unani, Bachelor of Unani Medicine and Surgery BUMS in Sidha BSMS in homoeo B.H.M.S are the basic qualification for practicing Ayurveda,Unani,Homoeo&Sidha. The B.A.M.S, B.U.M.S, B.S.M.S and B.H.M.S are 6 year degree (including internship called house surgeoncy) course after 12 years of formal education at a C.C.I.M approved colleges. M.D has to be done after B.A.M.S, B.U.M.S, B.S.M.S or B.H.M.S in a speciality, and it takes 3 years (including submission of a thesis) to complete the course. In Acupuncture Diploma in Acupuncture D Acu is the basement course for Bachelor of Acupuncture B Acu (three years). MD Acu is the post graduate(Master)degree in Acupuncture(two years after B Acu).

Pakistan[link]

In Pakistan equivalent degree is MBBS (bachelors of medicine and bachelors of surgery). MBBS is awarded as the basic medical qualification after completing five years of study. This comprises two years of basic science subjects including anatomy, physiology, and biochemistry, with a particular emphasis on human anatomy. Subsequently, there are three years of clinical internship and courses on medicine surgery and pharmacology. Finally, the student is required to work for one year under a professor, before one is awarded Degree of MBBS with license to practice. For specialization, one has to pass Fellow of College of Physicians & Surgeons Pakistan (FCPS) exam-1 in field in of specialization and obtain an internship in the field for 3–6 years. Next, one can take the FCPS exam part 2, which includes intensive practical exams. Upon successful completion a fellow of the relevant specialty is awarded. Tough entry tests are passed successfully before entering in to a medical college. Medical colleges and foreign medical qualifications are supervised by the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC). Specialized degrees are awarded by the Pakistan College of Physicians and Surgeons. In basic medical sciences such as Anatomy, Physiology, Biochemistry, Pathology etc. the research postgraduate degree awarded by many universities is M.Phil., which has a pre-requirement of at least two years of Demonstratorship in relevant subject in a recognized Medical College. The Mphil course is 2–4 years and is a research postgraduate degree, containing submission and defence of research thesis in basic sciences similar to MD degree program in India. Many universities in conjunction with tertiary hospitals offer coursework MD and MS degrees as well.

Romania[link]

Romanian medical school lasts for 6 years including clinical practice and concludes with a final licensing examination (licenta). The degree awarded is Doctor-medic (Medical Doctor) abbreviated as MD.^[20]

Sri Lanka[link]

In Sri Lanka, MBBS degree is the degree to be held for one to be licensed as a physicians by the Sri Lanka Medical Council. MD degree is a higher postgraduate degree and in Sri Lanka awarded by the Postgraduate Institute of Medicine after completion of a postgraduate course and examinations. The MD degree in Sri Lanka is representative of specialty training in clinical, para clinical and preventive medicine (e.g., General Medicine, Cardiology, Nephrology, Oncology, para clincal such as microbiology, haematology and preventive such as Community Medicne .). Entry for the MD course open only for medical graduates holding the MBBS degree (with a duration of five and a half years), and training is obtained in medical disciplines that are non-surgical in nature (e.g., Internal Medicine, Radiology, Pathology, etc.). After three or four years of study and the successful completion of an examination with written as well as cases and viva examinations, the MD degree in the respective field of Study is awarded. In Community medicine and Medical Administration, part I examination consists of a theoretical exam while the degree is cofered after completion of a thesis as n PhD. This thesis has to be completed within a period of five years. After successfully defending the academic thesis, MD degree is conferred to the candidate,The MD degree holder is certified as a Board certified specialist by the respective board of study of the Postgraduate Institute of Medicine after he/she undergoes 2–4 years of local and foreign training depending on the specialty/subspecialty selected .

Equivalent degrees in other countries[link]

• In the Dominican Republic it is known as "DOCTOR EN MEDICINA" (DOCTOR IN MEDICINE). In 1511 the Spanish Catholic church founded the first university of the Americas in Santo Domingo present capital of modern day Dominican Republic and name it UNIVERSIDAD SANTO TOMAS DE AQUINO (today UNIVERSIDAD AUTONOMA DE SANTO DOMINGO). In 1630 this university graduated the first medical doctors of the Americas and amongst the graduates some Native Americans included.

• The Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery degrees (MB BS or MB ChB, and several variants).
• In Italy, the title of "Dottore in Medicina e Chirurgia" (literally "Doctor in Medicine and Surgery") is awarded by a preventive selection ("test a numero chiuso"): only 10% of the students that pass this test have to complete 6 years of medical school and have to pass a final state examination (called "abilitazione") to acquire the right to work as a physician; finally they can use the title "Dott." or "Dr." before the name. All Doctors then must sign theirself to a schools of specialization (literally "scuole di specializzazione") that, after the winning of the competition in the field that each doctors choose, last 4 years at least.
• In Germany students having completed 6 years of medical school and two rigorous state examinations acquire the right to work as a physician but no definite title. To obtain the degree "Dr. med., doctor medicinæ; Dr. med. dent., doctor medicinæ dentariæ; Dr. med. vet., doctor medicinæ veterinariæ" writing a dissertation/thesis is required. It is estimated that 70% of all graduates will eventually complete a dissertation, which is perceived to be important for career promotion and to attract patients.
• The Czech and Slovak title MUDr. (Medicinae Universae doctor or doktor medicíny) is a professional doctorate granted upon completion of six years pregraduate Master's study at medical schools. The postgraduate academic research degree in medicine is a PhD degree.
• In Poland the title of lekarz (physician, medic) or "lek." (previously lekarz medycyny or "lek. med.") is granted after completing a 6-year Master's medical program (although students apply to it directly after graduating high school).^[21][21] In contrast, a higher doctoral academic research degree in medicine resembling a PhD is named "dr n. med." or doktor nauk medycznych (Doctor of Medical Sciences). Specialization is valued similarly to a specialization in the English system and is a pre-requisite for a "dr. n. med." which is usually defined within the same field.
• The Danish and Norwegian Candidatus medicinae or Candidata medicinae degrees (cand.med.) is awarded after completing a 6-year medical programme, to which students apply directely upon finishing secondary school. The programme usually includes a small thesis. However, the cand.med. degree must not be confused with the previous Danish and Norwegian dr.med. degree, which is equivalent to the current post-graduate PhD.
• In Mexico, schools of medicine award the "Titulo de Medico Cirujano" degree after completing either 6 or 7 years of study. This curriculum includes a rotating internship year and a year of social service providing care to an underserved community.
• In Nepal, a MBBS degree is awarded.
• In Greece, after a six-year study, a medical student acquires his medical degree and the right to use "Δρ.", (Dr.) before his name. This is considered equivalent to the M.D. title.
• In Iran the professional degree in Medicine or MD is awarded upon completion of seven years continuous study started with 5.5 years university education include 2.5 years basic sciences,1 year pathophysiology and 2 years clinical courses followed by one & half year of internship in accredited hospitals plus thesis.
• In mainland China, some medical schools award MBBS to foreign students while all medical schools award Bachelor of Medicine to nationals. MD is a higher academic research degree.
• In Colombia, the medicine faculties of the universities awards the title of "Medico Cirujano" after taking 10 semesters of studies on "all clinic and surgery disciplines an 2 semester on internship. After receiving the degree there is a mandatory year "obliged social work" were the doctors practice as GP in the countryside. Residency programs last between 3-4 years depends on the specialty.
• In Sudan the awarded degree in most of the medical schools is, Bachelor of Medicine and Basic Surgery (MBBS).In schools that are based on the English system of medical teaching, the degree is granted after 6 years of studying. As for the schools that are adopting the American system, they grant their students the degree of MBBS in only 5 years.
• In Turkey, the title of "Tıp Doktoru" (literally "Doctor of Medicine") is awarded upon completion of six years continuous study started with 5 years university education include 3 years basic sciences, 2 years clinical courses followed by one year of internship in university hospitals.
• In the Netherlands, the title 'Arts' (Dutch, meaning 'physician') is awarded after six years of study, and most patients address the physician as 'Dokter'. Most Dutch universities have divided the medical study in four years theory and two years practical experience. Exception are the universities of Maastricht and Utrecht. At Utrecht the program consists of two and a half year of theory, two and a half year specialty-dedicated theory blocks, a clinical rotation in that specialty, and one year continuous practical experience.
• In Indonesia, the title of "dokter" (dr.) is awarded after a Medical student received their Bachelor in Medicine (Sarjana Kedokteran; S.Ked) after 3-3,5 years of study (at least) and 1,5 – 2 years of clinical course in university hospitals. After a medical student finished those 5 years of study and take Hippocrates Oath, The title of Dokter (Dr.) is entitled before their name. Then they need to take Ujian Kompetensi Dokter Indonesia (UKDI, test to get license to practice medicine as general practitioner) then take a year long internship course in primary health care clinics (also known as Puskesmas) or primary hospitals all over the country to practice as general practitioner under supervision of senior doctors. Those who wished to further their study into specialties can take graduate course of medicine of their preference and will be entitled with "Specialist of ..." after their name (e.g.: Sp.A for Spesialis Anak = Pediatrician). graduate course of medicine is equal with residency program which is required the candidates to study for 4 years and hospital internship. (Note: dr. (dokter) is used for medical graduates, while Dr. (Doktor) is used for PhD holders.)

Other postgraduate clinical degrees[link]

There is also a similar advanced professional degree to the postgraduate MD: the Master of Surgery (usually ChM or MS, but MCh in Scotland, Ireland, Wales and at Oxford and MChir at Cambridge). The equivalence of these degrees, but their differing names, prevents the need for surgeons (addressed as Mr. in the UK) having to revert to the title Dr., which they once held as new MBBS graduates.

In Ireland, where the basic medical qualification includes a degree in obstetrics, there is a similar higher degree of Master of the Art of Obstetrics (MAO). A Master of Midwifery was formerly examined by the Worshipful Society of Apothecaries of London (hence MMSA) but fell into abeyance in the 1960s; in this case the term Master referred not to a university degree but rather a professional rank that is common among craft guilds.

In East Africa, the medical schools in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda award the degree of Master of Medicine (MMed) degree in both surgical and medical specialty disciplines following a three year period of instruction.

In West Africa, the West African College of Physicians and the West African College of Surgeons award the Fellowship of the West African College of Physicians (FWACP) and the Fellowship of the West African College of Surgeons (FWACS) in medical and surgical disciplines respectively after a minimum of four year residency training period.

References[link]

http://www.ucl.ac.uk/medicalschool/undergraduate/mbbs-programme/prospectus/medicalschoolprospectus2012.pdf

Further reading[link]

• Biabangardi, Zinab; Baradaran (2006). JCEHP 26 (3). 

This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (March 2009)

Abraham Verghese at the 2010 Texas Book Festival, Austin, Texas, United States.

Physician-author Abraham Verghese (born 1955) is Professor for the Theory and Practice of Medicine at Stanford University Medical School and Senior Associate Chair of the Department of Internal Medicine ^[1]. He is also the author of three best-selling books, two memoirs and a novel. In 2011, he was elected to the very prestigious membership in the Institute of Medicine. ^[2].

He was born in Ethiopia to parents from Kerala, India^[3] who worked as teachers. He was raised as a Malankara Orthodox Syrian Christian.^[4] Verghese, his father's Christian name, being Malayalam for George, is a very common Suriyani name. In 2009, Knopf published his new book and first novel, Cutting for Stone.^[5] in 2010, Random House published the paperback version of the book and since that time, it has risen steadily up the bestseller charts, ranking #2 on the New York Times trade paperback fiction list on March 13, 2011 ^[6]. It has been on the New York Times list for well over two years. ^[7]

Medical training and early career[link]

Verghese began his medical training in Ethiopia, but his education was interrupted during the civil unrest there when the Emperor was deposed and a military government took over.^[8] He came to America with his parents and two brothers (his elder brother George Verghese is an engineering professor at MIT). Verghese worked as an orderly for a year before going to India where he completed his medical studies at Madras Medical College in Madras, now Chennai.^[9] In his written work, he refers to his time working as an orderly in a hospital in America as deeply influential in confirming his desire to finish his medical training; the experience had given him a deep understanding of the patient's hospital situation with its varying levels of treatment and care. He has said the insights he gained from this work helped him beome a more empathetic physician and resulted in the motto, "Imagining the Patient's Experience," that defined his later work at the Center for Medical Humanities & Ethics in San Antonio, Texas, which he directed for five years from 2002 to 2007.^[10]

After finishing his medical degree (MBBS) from Madras University in 1979, and then completing his internship there, he came to the United States as one of hundreds of foreign medical graduates, or FMGs, from India seeking open residency positions. As he described it in a New Yorker article, "The Cowpath to America,"^[11] many FMGs often had to work in the less popular hospitals and communities, and frequently in inner cities. He opted for a residency in a brand-new program in Johnson City, Tennessee affiliated with East Tennessee State University. He was a resident there from 1980 to 1983, and then secured a coveted fellowship at Boston University School of Medicine in 1983, where he worked for two years at Boston City Hospital and where he saw the early signs of the urban epidemic of HIV in that city. Returning to Johnson City in 1985 as assistant professor of medicine (he later became a tenured associate professor there), he encountered the first signs of a second epidemic, that of rural AIDS. His work with the patients he cared for and his insights into his personal transformation from being "homoignorant," as he describes it, to having an understanding of his patients resulted a few years later in his first book, My Own Country.

New direction: writing[link]

Abraham Verghese 27 February 2011.

Exhausted from the overwhelming nature of his work with his patients, with his first marriage under strain and by then having begun to write seriously, he decided to take a break. He applied to and was accepted to the prestigious Iowa Writers Workshop at the University of Iowa. He cashed in his retirement plan and his tenured position to go to Iowa City with his young family. There, he honed his writing skills and earned a Master of Fine Arts degree in 1991 ^[12]

. After Iowa, he accepted a position as Professor of Medicine and Chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases at Texas Tech Health Sciences Center in El Paso, Texas, where he lived for the next 11 years. Despite his title, he was the sole infectious disease physician for a busy county hospital—Thomason Hospital—for many years. His skills and commitment to patient care resulted in his being awarded the Grover E. Murray Distinguished Professorship of Medicine at the Texas Tech School of Medicine.

During these years in El Paso, he also wrote and published his first book, the bestseller My Own Country: A Doctor's Story, about his experiences in East Tennessee, but also pondering themes of displacement, Diaspora, responses to foreignness and the many individuals and families affected by the AIDS epidemic. This book was one of five chosen as Best Book of the Year by Time magazine and it was later made into a movie by Mira Nair with Lost star Naveen Andrews playing his role.

His second book, The Tennis Partner: A Story of Friendship and Loss, also written during his time in El Paso, is another eloquently personal story, this time about his friend and tennis partner, a medical resident in recovery from drug addiction. The story deals with the ultimate death of his friend and explores the issue and prevalence of physician drug abuse. It also concludes the account of the breakdown of his first marriage, an integral part of the narrative in both My Own Country and The Tennis Partner. This book was reissued in 2009. Verghese has three children, two grown sons by his first marriage and a third by his second marriage.

Bedside medicine[link]

This biographical section of an article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (March 2009)

Verghese became founding Director of The Center for Medical Humanities & Ethics at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio^[13] in 2002. His focus here was on medical humanities as a way to preserve the innate empathy and sensitivity that brings students to medical school but which the rigor of their training frequently represses. In San Antonio, besides developing a formal humanities and ethics curriculum that was integrated into in all four years of the medical school program, he invited medical students to accompany him on bedside rounds as a way of demonstrating his conviction about the value of the physical examination in diagnosing patients and in developing a caring, two-way patient-doctor relationship that provides benefits not only to patients and their families but to the physician, as well ^[14]. At San Antonio, he held the Joaquin Cigarroa Chair and the Marvin Forland Distinguished Professorship ^[15].

After a relatively short, five-year tenure in San Antonio, he was recruited to Stanford University School of Medicine in late 2007 as tenured professor for the Theory and Practice of Medicine and Associate Chair of Internal Medicine.^[16] His deep interest in bedside medicine and his reputation as a clinician, teacher and writer have continued to define his role at Stanford, where he is deeply involved with patients at Stanford Hospital and directs the third-year medical student clerkship. His writing and work continue to explore the importance of bedside medicine, the ritual of the physical examination in the era of advanced technology, where, as he notes frequently in his writing, the patient in the bed is often ignored in favor of the patient data in the computer.^[17] He is renowned at Stanford for his weekly bedside rounds, where he insists on examining patients without knowledge of their diagnosis to demonstrate the wealth of information available from the physical exam. This emphasis has led to the development of The Stanford 25, a new initiative at Stanford designed to showcase and teach 25 fundamental physical exam skills and their diagnostic benefits to interns.^[18]

[edit] Cutting for Stone

His first novel, Cutting for Stone, is set in Ethiopia and the United States and written of a time in Ethiopia when the old order gave way to the new, a time of great loss for the author himself, who as an expatriate had to leave the country even though he had been born there.^[19] An epic autobiographical novel of sweeping proportions, Cutting for Stone has remained a #1 bestseller on the Independent Booksellers list and high on the "New York Times" Fiction and "USA Today" Bestsellers lists. It was recently optioned as a movie ^[20]. Verghese's writing has also appeared in The New Yorker, Texas Monthly, Atlantic, The New York Times, The New York Times Magazine, Granta, Forbes.com, "Daily Beast" and The Wall Street Journal.

See also[link]

Biography portal

• Physician writer

Notes[link]

External links[link]

• Abraham Verghese Web Site
• Stanford Profile
• Emory postcolonial studies biography
• Abraham Verghese discussing bedside medicine (podcast)

Ben Goldacre MRCPsych
Speaking at TAM London, October 2009
Born	1974
Alma mater	Magdalen College, Oxford (BA), UCL Medical School (MB, BS), King's College London (MA)
Occupation	Psychiatrist and science writer
Known for	Bad Science
Parents	Michael Goldacre Noosha Fox

Ben Michael Goldacre^[1] (born 1974^[2]) is a British science writer, doctor and psychiatrist.^[3] He is the author of The Guardian newspaper's Bad Science column^[4] and a book of the same title, published by Fourth Estate in September 2008.^[5]

Goldacre is the son of Australians Michael Goldacre, professor of public health at the University of Oxford,^[6] and the pop singer Susan Traynor, aka Noosha Fox,^[7] the nephew of science journalist Robyn Williams, and the great-great-grandson of Sir Henry Parkes.^[8]

Academic career[link]

Goldacre was educated at Magdalen College School, Oxford^[9] then studied medicine at Magdalen College, Oxford where he obtained a first class degree in his preclinical studies in 1995.^[3] While at Oxford he also edited the student magazine Isis.^[10] He was a visiting researcher in cognitive neuroscience at the University of Milan, working on fMRI brain scans of language and executive function, and then he went on to study clinical medicine at UCL Medical School and qualified as a medical doctor in 2000.^[1] He received a master's degree in philosophy (funded by the British Academy) from King's College London.^[3][11] He passed the MRCPsych Part II examinations in December 2005 and became a member of the Royal College of Psychiatrists.^[12] In 2008 he was a research fellow at the Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London.^[13] As of November 2009^[update], Goldacre is a psychiatric registrar and Guardian research fellow at Nuffield College, Oxford.^[14]

[edit] Bad Science column

Until a hiatus in November 2011, Goldacre wrote a weekly column, Bad Science, in the Saturday edition of The Guardian newspaper,^[4] and published expanded versions of the columns with reader comments on his website badscience.net.^[15] Devoted to criticism of scientific inaccuracy, health scares, pseudoscience and quackery, the column focuses especially on examples from the mass media, consumer product marketing, problems with the pharmaceutical industry^[16] and its relationship to medical journals,^[17] and complementary and alternative medicine in Britain.^[18]

He has been a particular critic of the claims of television nutritionist Gillian McKeith,^[19] anti-immunisation campaigners (particularly followers of Andrew Wakefield such as Melanie Phillips and Jeni Barnett),^[20] Brain Gym,^[21] bogus positive MRSA swab stories in tabloids,^[22] SSRI antidepressants,^[23] publication bias,^[24] and the makers of the product Penta Water.^[25] While investigating McKeith's membership of the American Association of Nutritional Consultants, Goldacre purchased a "certified professional membership" on behalf of his late cat, Henrietta, from the same institution for $60.^[26] In February 2007, McKeith agreed to stop using the title "Dr" in her advertising following a complaint to the Advertising Standards Authority by a Bad Science reader.^[27]

In 2008, vitamin entrepreneur Matthias Rath sued Goldacre and The Guardian over three articles^[28][29][30] in which Goldacre criticised Rath's promotion of vitamin pills to AIDS sufferers in South African townships.^[31] Rath dropped his action in September 2008 and was ordered to pay initial costs of £220,000 to the Guardian.^[31] The paper is seeking full costs of £500,000, and Goldacre has expressed an interest in writing a book about Rath and South Africa, as a chapter on the subject had to be cut from his book while the litigation proceeded.^[32] The chapter was reinstated in a later edition of the book, and also published online.^[33]