Reinventing Medicine

PUBLISHERS WEEKLY JAN 4, 1999

Always in the vanguard, physician Dossey (Prayer Is Good Medicine, etc.) makes a fascinating case for the next revolution in medicine beyond the current era of mind-body healing. Rather than signaling an entirely new direction, he defines a larger, more humane vision based on incorporating advances in integrative medicine. His brief, persuasive work is bound to attract attention from the general public and medical professionals alike, especially in light of his pioneering work on the connection between prayer and healing. Rendering his argument in simple language and illustrating it with many individual stories as well as scientific studies, Dossey contends that we are entering an era of the "non-local mind"--that consciousness can accomplish healing outside the confines of one's brain and body, influencing distant events, people and circumstances. He does not discount the efficacy of medical intervention so much as he anticipates an enlightened model of partnership between patient and healer. While some readers may resist the idea of prayer influencing such events as cell development, many will accept the more familiar examples involving animal behavior (e.g., pets traveling thousands of miles to reunite with their owners). Addressing such major conduits of nonlocal healing as dreams, prayer and being in "the zone," Dossey offers moving examples of human healing that seem inexplicable by other means. He is at his most eloquent in his concluding chapter on "Eternity Medicine," or the compassionate treatment of the dying.