Medicine in Translation Reviews
“A gifted storyteller, Ofri provides vivid details that bring readers right into the exam room with her. From a paraplegic New Zealander to an aging Chinese couple who must make difficult choices about how to treat their degenerative illnesses, these patients’ stories are not just poignant; they also give insight into the challenges of obtaining health care as an immigrant in the United States…
“…Ofri describes how her patients’ histories stirred her to practice medicine more compassionately, inspired her with their hope and fortitude, and helped put her own trivial problems in perspective.”
Full review in the Washington Post.
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Times Literary Supplement
“Like her previous books, Singular Intimacies and Incidental Findings, Danielle Ofri’s new work presents the reader with artfully-controlled chaos. Title and subtitle here each do double duty as theme and trope…Brisk, fast-paced, and organized with an eye both to variety and recurrence…”
Full review in the Times Literary Supplement.
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Story Circle Book Reviews
“The threads of Danielle Ofri’s memoir, Medicine in Translation, come together in a fascinating tapestry, with shimmers of what it is to be a physician, a mother, a writer and musician, a person with opinions trying to open herself to a world full of differences. She writes well, and the stories she weaves here are by turns painful, funny, searching, and full of thoughtful interest in the human condition…
Full review in the Story Circle Book Reviews.
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The New Physician
“This book is a powerful piece that is multifaceted in its appeal. It will touch, teach and sensitize those in the medical profession to consider the spectrum of experiences that their immigrant patients may have had. This may spur doctors to customize their treatment for foreign patients, making the care more comprehensive and in the process spark some soul-searching for the doctor as well.”
Full review in The New Physician.
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The Bookworm Sez
“Timely, beautiful, and heartbreaking, Medicine in Translation couldn’t have been published at a better time. When it seems that health care (and lack thereof) is on everyone’s mind, this book adds a quiet reminder of so much…Author Danielle Ofri, herself the child of immigrants, writes with humanity, poignancy, and a shot of humor in this book. I was astounded at some of the stories that Ofri gently teased from people who would really rather forget, and I loved the way she wove her own journey in with that of her patients. I shuddered while reading this book, I smiled, and I can’t wait for her next one…If you’re concerned about health care for the most hidden of society or if you just want a book to make you think, pick up this one. “Medicine in Translation” is just what the doctor ordered.”
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Global Pulse Journal
What makes these accounts so remarkable, and what has kept me coming back to this book in the months since I first read it, is that Dr. Ofri manages to accomplish something beyond illustrating the problems of immigrant patients. She manages to counteract the frustration many of us feel towards “difficult” patients like the subjects of her stories – the defensive callousness that starts making itself felt even in the pre-clinical years. She does this without idealizing the patients, and honestly acknowledges her own moments of frustration. Medicine in Translation underscores the need for better support for both doctor and patient in the medical system when working across cultures, and inspires us to see challenging cases as opportunities for cultural learning and reflection.
Full review in Global Pulse Journal
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Jewish Book World
“…[Y]ou can’t help but be moved by these patients’ experiences. Ofri masterfully weaves their stories into a tapestry of memoir and medicine, and in so doing honors the Jewish mitzvah to “heal the sick.””
Full review in Jewish Book World.
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Brattleboro Reformer
“…[Ofri's] books… are all about her relationships with patients. The operative word there is “relationships”: Doctors aren’t supposed to have them. But good doctors do. The best doctors relate to the people they diagnose and treat. They listen to them, talk with them, learn their stories, worry when things aren’t going well and feel happy when they are. They bring a decided humanism to the practice of medicine.”
Full Review in the Brattleboro Reformer.
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Watch the “Medicine in Translation” book trailer.