Abraham Verghese is an American physician, author, Professor for the Theory and Practice of Medicine at Stanford University Medical School and Senior Associate Chair of the Department of Internal Medicine. He is also the author of three best-selling books, two memoirs and a novel. In 2011, he was elected to be a member of the Institute of Medicine. He received the National Humanities Medal from President Barack Obama in 2015.
Before finishing medical school he worked as a hospital orderly. During this time he saw the patients as human beings rather than collections of illnesses. The experience has a huge impact on his work both as a doctor and as a writer.
He says: “I still find the best way to understand a hospitalized patient is not by staring at the computer screen but by going to see the patient; it’s only at the bedside that I can figure out what is important.”
