This is the first guide to Veterinary Narrative Medicine, a cutting-edge approach in human medicine with multiple applications in veterinary medicine, including the improvement of client communication, medical outcomes, and veterinary well-being.
This is a remarkable book. Karen Fine has a deep and intuitive understanding of Narrative Medicine and has applied this to veterinary practice in a way that is wise, compassionate and realistic. Dr Fine pays close attention to the complex dynamics that can exist between client, animal and veterinarian and how to harness these for effective treatment. Her book offers a feast of ideas, tips and heart-warming stories to guide everyday practice. This is an essential read for every veterinary student and practitioner.
-- John Launer, Health Education England, author of Narrative-Based Practice in Health and Social Care (Routledge, 2018)
Dr. Fine beautifully describes veterinary narrative medicine in this wide-ranging must-have book for all clinicians. She provides anecdotes that illustrate how applying this approach can improve the care we provide to our patients and clients, while also taking better care of ourselves. She makes the excellent case that narrative medicine is a necessary parallel to evidence-based medicine and makes us better (and more efficient) veterinarians with deeper connections to our clients, patients and work, mitigating pervasive burn-out, perfectionism and self-judgement.
-- Annie Wayne DVM, MPH, DACVECC, Assistant Professor, Emergency and Critical Care, Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine, Tufts University
Dr. Karen Fine was the one to introduce me this last year to the concept of Narrative Medicine. I realize through our conversations and in the lessons learned from reading her book that this is an incredibly powerful way to navigate building community, decreasing empathic distress and compassion fatigue, and practicing veterinary medicine in a sustainable way. This book provides an invaluable learning opportunity for all stages of veterinary professional development. Dr. Fine's voice and choice of words struck just the right balance between wise instructor and caring friend making the reading so enjoyable. Her work supports an important contribution to the necessary shift of our professional culture that sees the people as much as the veterinary patients with compassion and care.
-- Sonja A.Olson, DVM, Clinical Health and Well-being Trainer at BluePearl Veterinary Partners, USA
By bringing attention to the human component of Veterinary Medicine, Dr. Fine has provided us with an empathic and holistic perspective to medical care that has great potential for healing in the animal community; not only for animals, but their human companions and veterinary professionals as well.
-- Julie Gass, MSW, LICSW, Angell Animal Medical Center, USA
