Enticing You to Write a Book Review

Victor O. Kolade, MD (AIAMC Roles: Member of Board of Directors & Programming Committee) 

Years ago Rick Mathis, PhD, a health policy doyen* at the Ochs Center in Chattanooga, published a series of book reviews in the journal Health Affairs as his contribution to the scholarly activity in our department. I got my chance to emulate Rick when I was given a copy of Michael Stein’s The Addict: One Patient, One Doctor, One Year at the end of a NIDA-sponsored conference hosted by the Boston University Medical Center. As I had airport/plane time with no other plans, I read the book and sought to publish a book review of my own.

The book was interesting and rather seamless; the author fulfilled his self-chosen mission to describe a year in the life of an addict who presents for buprenorphine treatment, taking care to protect the identity of the patient(s) that were referenced in his narrative. I looked for a journal whose audience could benefit from reading a brief re-tell of this story. I asked and got permission from Family Medicine to submit my write-up to them. Fortunately, this journal has guidelines for preparing book reviews; I followed it and the editor’s revision guidance. In the published book review (2011), I walked readers through Stein’s experiences as he worked with a 29-year old college grad who in 16 years had never met a drug she didn’t like!

Looking Back – It was More than Just a Book Review.

What has happened professionally since I read and reviewed The Addict in 2011? I have:

·       Shared the review (and the instruction template) with a few mentees,

·       Become certified to prescribe buprenorphine and have done so on occasion, and

·       Screened and certified a number of patients with opioid use disorder for medical cannabis use in accordance with Pennsylvania or New York laws.

Why do I deem the content of The Addict relevant, years after its publication?

Effective 2022, addiction medicine is regarded by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) as core internal medicine (IM) content for IM residency education. This book may be a discussion starter for resident-faculty book clubs - or assigned reading for addiction medicine rotations.

Does this tempt you to do a book review yourself? If you recently read/reviewed a book, please contact us so that we can consider publishing it on our blog!! kimberly@aiamc.org

Dr. Kolade is Interim Co-Chief for Quality, Wellness & Research, Sayre Internal Medicine; Clinical Professor of Medicine & Regional Clerkship Director for Internal Medicine, Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine.

*(the most respected or prominent person in a particular field)