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Telltale Hearts

A Public Health Doctor, His Patients, and the Power of Story

A doctor’s powerful meditation on what his patients taught him,
and what they can teach us about listening, healing, and public health.

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“Examining the monumental struggles of marginalized communities, he makes a painfully convincing case that the present system guarantees that the poor get sicker, receive less care, and die sooner. The author’s stories are consistently illuminating…In this often inspiring book, he shows readers a variety of “alternative” strategies that benefit public health. Vivid medical anecdotes with occasional happy endings.”

- Kirkus Reviews

“The Book unfolds like a medical version of “Arabian Nights” “

- The New York Times

“With this remarkable work, woven from strands of memoir, reportage, prophecy, and stinging indictment, shot through with bright threads of humor and tenderness and beautifully written, Schillinger brings clarity, curiosity, patience, understanding, and an undeniable literary gift to bear on the practice of medicine in this inhumane age.”

- Michael Chabon, Pulitzer prize-winning author of The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay

“Telltale Hearts digs deep into the humanity of patients and caregivers alike, revealing the indispensable connection between medicine and storytelling. Timely and telling!”

- Danielle Ofri, MD, PhD, Editor-in-Chief, Bellevue Literary Review and author of What Doctors Feel: How Emotions Affect the Practice of Medicine

“Schillinger, a master clinician, uses powerful stories to bring the reader face-to-face with the root causes of the nation’s most pressing health problems.   A compelling, beautifully written must-read for all of us who have a personal stake in improving our health and the health of our communities.”

- Ronald Epstein MD, author of Attending: Medicine, Mindfulness, and Humanity

“[Schillinger]   reveals an exceptional going out of his way for his patients, of pursuing a cause he believes in, whether preventing diabetes or speaking out against built-in racism. He is also a family man, a tribal man, an observant man. His book could equally well have been entitled, Telltale Heart.”

- Victoria Sweet, MD, author of God’s Hotel

“Dean Schillinger is the rarest of things, a primary care physician dedicated to treating the neediest patients in our society and a gifted storyteller who sees the practice of medicine as a relational art. In his humane and deeply illuminating book, he shows that the most important medical interventions come not from advanced technology but from the simple act of listening to patients’ stories. At a time when medical care is increasingly driven by profit, Telltale Hearts vividly captures why listening and healing are intertwined and why this rudimentary insight so often goes ignored in our broken, rapacious healthcare system, especially when the lives of the poor and disadvantaged are at stake.”

- Eyal Press, author of Dirty Work

ABOUT DEAN-DAVID SCHILLINGER

Dean-David Schillinger MD is a primary care physician, scientist, author, and public health advocate. He is an internationally recognized expert in health communication and has been widely recognized for his work related to improving the health of marginalized populations. He is credited with a number of discoveries in primary care and health communication and is considered a pioneer of the field of health literacy. He is the inaugural recipient of the Andrew B. Bindman Professorship in Primary Care and Health Policy at the University of California San Francisco (UCSF).

Dr. Schillinger has served as chief of the UCSF Division of General Internal Medicine at San Francisco General Hospital, and chief of the Diabetes Prevention and Control Program for the California Department of Public Health. In 2006, he co-founded the UCSF Center for Vulnerable Populations, a leading research center committed to addressing the social, environmental and commercial determinants of health through research, education, policy, and practice. He currently directs the UCSF Health Communications Research Program.  Learn More   

Dr. Schillinger with a patient

Heroes and Hearts: Partners in Health

In 2017 Dr. Schillinger was recognized for his numerous contributions in research and programming related to health literacy, diabetes, and public health, as well as his transformative role in setting standards for relationship-centered care. More Videos   

As I witness COVID reeking its havoc — especially among the elderly and people of color — I feel it is important to recognize the grief experienced by the primary care physicians who have provided ongoing care for these individuals, often for decades, by sharing this brief poem.

Read Elegy for Two Dead Men