Doctor Heal Thyself
Doctor Heal Thyself is a raw and inspiring journey of relentless perseverance and self-reliance as a female doctor of physical therapy pursues both a diagnosis and treatment for what started out as a benign heart problem during pregnancy that unexpectedly escalated to stroke with permanent deficits.
Battling gender stereotypes, out-of-control physician egos, and barriers to access her own medical records and data, Dr. Murphy took it upon herself to find solutions to her cardiac and neurological issues in a five-year, eye-opening journey into the broken American healthcare system. Capitalizing on her background in medical science and patient advocacy, she discovered interventions embedded in the latest medical research applicable to both her heart and neurological issues, all while balancing the needs of a fledgling new private physical therapy practice and her three young children. The end of her medical journey came full circle fittingly just as it began. With physician specialists refusing to assist, Dr. Murphy utilized the latest medical research to discover a novel treatment approach to successfully prevent further transient ischemic attacks and cryptogenic stroke.
Doctor Heal Thyself epitomizes the current challenges of the US healthcare system that has defaulted into disconnected, transactional care with few providers willing and able to provide the patient-centered care necessary for successful healthcare outcomes. This book serves as a wake-up call to modern academic medicine to end the practice of paternalistic care devoid of any patient autonomy, and to biotech device companies to remove barriers that limit patient access to their own implanted cardiac device data. Throughout the book, Dr. Murphy offers valuable insight and practical suggestions for patients on how to become your own best advocate in healthcare. She also exposes with raw openness the challenges of adjusting to new and permanent physical limitations while simultaneously fulfilling the role of wife, mother, business owner, and doctor of physical therapy.
Doctor Heal Thyself is a completed manuscript currently in review with publishers.
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