A Doctor's Dialogues

Name: A Doctor's Dialogues
ISBN: 9787567922396

Lang JinghePeking Union Medical College Press · ChinaApr 2025

3.8

Word count: 111 words
Chapters: 6
ISBN: 9787567922396

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Summary

“I sometimes feel like an old gatekeeper, opening the gate on time every morning—for people, for cars, for those going in and those coming out. Or like a lighthouse keeper, switching on the light every evening—for the sea, for the ships, for the moon, for the sunrise…” A Doctor's Dialogues collects over 300 calligraphic essays by Lang Jinghe, academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and honorary director of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Peking Union Medical College Hospital. Organized around the author's conversations with different people, the book is divided into three parts: “With the Wise and the Foolish,” “With Teachers and Students,” and “With Friends and with Myself.” In these calligraphic essays, the author shares his reflections, understanding, and insights from life, medical study, and work. To make the book easier to read, each piece of calligraphy is accompanied by a text annotation. Printed in four colors throughout, the book is plain, profound, and engaging, revealing the author's humor and wisdom and guiding readers to experience the appeal of the humanities and medicine from different perspectives. The author values and promotes humanistic medicine and has published more than ten books in the “A Doctor” series. This book will be printed in its first edition in September 2023, and it is hoped that the “A Doctor” series will reach more readers.

Editor's review

A Doctor's Dialogues is another major work by Academician Lang Jinghe in the field of medical humanities. This book is not a medical monograph in the traditional sense, but a record of in-depth dialogues between a seasoned physician and patients, colleagues, medicine itself, and the general public. As a specialist in obstetrics and gynecology at Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Academician Lang Jinghe fuses decades of clinical practice with philosophical reflection, exploring the core questions of medicine that go beyond technique: the nature of the doctor-patient relationship, the dignity of life, the ethical dilemmas of medical decision-making, and the role and warmth of doctors amid the tide of technological progress. The writing is plain yet profound, free of obscure jargon, and full of respect and compassion for the individual life. It reveals the humanistic corners that modern medicine may overlook in its pursuit of precision and efficiency, and seeks to build a bridge of communication. For readers, this is not merely a glimpse into the medical profession, but a journey of reflection on trust, responsibility, and the meaning of life. In an era when medical issues are increasingly complex, this book offers a rare insider perspective full of wisdom and warmth.

Who it's for

A good fit for

General readers interested in doctor-patient relationships and medical ethics
Medical professionals or medical students seeking professional identity and humanistic reflection
Readers who enjoy humanistic essays and seek deeper reflection on life
People currently facing health concerns or undergoing medical treatment who wish to understand the logic of the healthcare system

Not a good fit for

Readers seeking specific diagnostic and treatment guidelines or popular health knowledge
Readers seeking light entertainment or fast-paced narrative

Reading tips

Recommended as a bedside book or essay collection; it need not be read all at once but can be read and reflected on at leisure
Readers may compare and reflect on the book in light of their own experience with the healthcare system
Pay attention to how the author turns complex ethical questions into plain dialogue and appreciate the power behind his words

About the publisher

Peking Union Medical College Press China · Founded in 1989

Peking Union Medical College Press focuses on medical academic publishing while also covering the social sciences. Judging from the 285 books in the database, its publishing centers on clinical medicine, public health and medical education: it offers translated clinical reference works such as The Sanford Guide to Antimicrobial Therapy (new translation, 53rd edition), the annual China Cardiovascular Health and Disease Report series, and monographs including Medicine in Rural China, Facial Nerve Studies, and Endoscope-Assisted Microneurosurgery. Its authors include international medical writers such as David Gilbert and Henry Chambers as well as Chinese scholars such as Chen Zhiqian, Wang Chen and Zhang Konglai. Its publishing features a balance between introducing authoritative international guidelines and presenting domestic academic achievements, alongside textbooks and works on the training of doctors.

版权信息
自序
第一部分和智者、和愚者
第二部分和先生、和学生
第三部分和朋友、和自己
后记

FAQ

Does this book discuss specific medical cases?

Not entirely. Although it reflects clinical experience, its core is to start from specific situations and explore more universal issues in medical humanities and ethics, rather than to analyze cases.

Can I understand it without a medical background?

Absolutely. The author deliberately avoids professional barriers and conducts philosophical and humanistic dialogue in accessible language, focusing on inspiring thought rather than imparting specialized knowledge.

How is this book different from Academician Lang Jinghe's other works?

Compared with his professional medical writings, this book focuses more on humanistic essays and intellectual dialogue, with a freer genre and a broader audience, and is a concentrated presentation of his thought on medical humanities.

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About the author

Lang Jinghe Author · Chinese · 1940

Lang Jinghe, born in Jilin in April 1940, is an obstetrician and gynecologist, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, and honorary director, professor and doctoral supervisor of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Peking Union Medical College Hospital. He has long been engaged in the diagnosis, treatment and research of endometriosis, gynecological tumors and female pelvic floor disorders, has proposed the "eutopic endometrium determinism," and has edited or translated more than thirty medical works. His writings fall roughly into two kinds: professional medical books such as Female Pelvic Floor Medicine (2nd Edition), Obstetrics and Gynecology (2nd Edition) and Practical Colposcopy Techniques, which are clinically grounded and rigorously organized; and essay collections such as The Story of a Doctor, A Doctor's Dialogues, A Doctor's Prefaces (II) and Watching Over PUMCH: Lin Qiaozhi and Her Doctors, which record, from a doctor's perspective, clinical experience, friendships with colleagues and teachers, and the PUMCH tradition in plain, restrained prose that combines medical rigor with humanistic warmth.