I received a free copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review. All opinions are my own.
Author and Dr. Stephen Stowers M.D. shares a lifetime of lessons and insights into the medical profession, and how changes to the American Medical Care System led him to find a new practice in another country in the book “Box of Birds”.
The Synopsis
In this fascinating memoir, cardiologist Stephen Stowers eloquently captures the various changes that he has lived through over a lifetime spent as a caring and ethical medical professional. With sadness, he watched as a profession he loved became more and more focused on the bottom line, while working as a doctor in the United States. He unpacks for the reader exactly what has gone awry in American medicine, showing us how the misguided shift toward a more corporate mindset was ushered in by hospital administrators, leading even well-intentioned doctors astray, as they are encouraged to place costly interventions above equally effective less invasive therapies. He also shows how he found refuge in another country, where he was able to practice medicine in a more ethical fashion once again and explains to us the surprising truth that he discovered there: New Zealand has better patient outcomes yet spends less money on healthcare, compared with a country such as the US. How can this be true? Read this book to discover the astonishing answer, that doing more with less is actually often a better path for doctors, hospitals, and the patients they want to assist. Stowers writes highly readable memoir that explains in terms any reader can follow exactly why he wanted to pursue medicine in the first place, how he grew disillusioned with American hospitals, and the joy he found in New Zealand after relocating there. Doctors, nurses, medical professionals of all kinds, and anybody who has been a patient and wondered what has gone wrong in American medicine and how to help put things right again should read this book.
The Review
This was a well-written and captivating nonfiction read. The author found the perfect balance between personal memoir writing and education regarding the different medical systems in the United States versus that of New Zealand. The detail and personal nature of the author’s writing really gave readers a sense of the experiences that informed the author’s opinions on the medical establishment as a whole.
The intriguing nature of how corporate the United States medical field became over the years was something that really resonated with me as a reader. As someone who has numerous medical ailments and who has a family with similar situations, the frustrations that have been felt over the prioritization of money and insurance versus actual health care have been something that has frustrated me as well, and to have a medical professional confirm these suspicions is profound. The author’s contribution to the discovery of a new protocol regarding coronary calcification was also quite remarkable and added to both the author’s viewpoints regarding holistic healthcare and his medical knowledge as a whole.
The Verdict
Captivating, engaging, and thoughtfully written, author Stephen Stowers’s “Box of Birds” is a must-read nonfiction memoir that meets medical guide that readers won’t be able to put down. The personable writing style and strong imagery mixed with the valuable medical knowledge and skill the author demonstrated through their experiences made this a breathtaking read you won’t be able to put down. If you haven’t yet, be sure to grab your copy today!
Rating 10/10
About the Author
Stephen Stowers is a skilled clinician who practiced cardiology for twenty-nine years in Florida and six and a half years on the North Island of New Zealand as a member of the
Royal Australasian College of Physicians. Dr. Stowers graduated from the University of Virginia School of Medicine.
He completed his cardiology fellowship at the George Washington University Hospital. As a pioneering cardiologist, he was a leader in the development of acute imaging of chest pain patients in the emergency room. Dr. Stowers has published widely in medical literature and recently published an international study on coronary calcium and its potential contribution to the early detection and treatment of coronary artery disease. He has also written a popular blog about his life in New Zealand, kiwicardiology.com.