Medicine does this by asking questions and listening for not just what is said, but what may be true. A man’s burning stomach pain transforms into gastritis, which has both a cause and a cure, whereas his nonspecific pain had neither. A swollen, red “strawberry” tongue in a feverish child will lead the doctor to examine the heart and affirm a diagnosis of vasculitis. Focus its light on an unsorted pile of symptoms and it will converge them neatly into a diagnosis. In Shock is a notable, ambitious and welcome contribution to an emerging dialogue concerning the quality and orientation of acute hospital care.Medicine can be a magical lens through which to view the human body. On occasion this runs the risk of diminishing the universal appeal of the narrative – that said, the delicate balance achieved between the personal and the universal is admirable. There are times, however, when Awdish’s account of the miscarriage and the gruelling months of recovery get somewhat lost in the mire of dense medical detail. She does not shy away from describing the emotional complexity of her miscarriage: “I felt sorry for myself that I’d been through all of this and there was no baby even to show for it … I feel angry that the pregnancy nearly killed me.” She writes with a deeply vulnerable human voice about her illness, her agonising recovery and the loss of her baby.

It is this flaw she sees as doing great harm to the patient and the practitioner, causing disillusionment and burnout in doctors.Īny temptation to dismiss Awdish’s alternative is undermined by the personal story told in the book. It is within this paradigm that, according to Awdish, the fundamental flaw of the medical profession lies. She bravely challenges the dominant paradigm of medicine that directs the doctor to maintain distance from the patient, because the alternative “begets loss, which in turn begets disillusionment and ultimately burnout”. This culture, according to Awdish, is one in which the person is often replaced by the diagnosis and simply seen as a puzzle to be solved.Īwdish goes one step further and describes the often unspoken rule that underpins acute hospital care: Keep your distance. It provides the reader with a unique perspective into the sometimes dehumanising culture of acute hospital care.

In Shock is Awdish's account of the trauma of losing her unborn child, her close call with death and, most importantly, her transition from the role of doctor to the role of patient. Awdish is an intensive care doctor who suffered a catastrophic medical event seven months into her first pregnancy, resulting in the death of her unborn child and a prolonged fight for life in her own hospital. Rana Awdish asks beautiful and brave questions in In Shock: My Journey from Death to Recovery and the Redemptive Power of Hope. 'Always the beautiful answer who asks a more beautiful question,' said the poet EE Cummings.

Awdish in shock