Dr. Leana WenCríticas

This was an excellent book showcasing the importance of public health. It's amazing how many different things can be viewed as a public health issue. Dr. Wen has made great strides in furthering public health throughout her career and continues to do so.

This eminently readable memoir (actually, probably an autobiography) chronicles the first 35+ years of Dr. Wen’s life -- her early childhood in crowded Shanghai; the abject poverty of her growing-up years as an immigrant to the US; and then her successes and setbacks (none of which I'd characterize as failures) in medical school and research, patient care, public-health policy, president of Planned Parenthood, and TV commentary amid Covid. I stand in awe of her perseverance and positivity.

In this book--a mix of memoir, autobiography, and public health--Wen describes her journey to the field of public health. From immigrant on a visa to the daughter of a man who wins asylum, through school, college, med school, and then pubic health. With ER clinical experience, she becomes the Baltimore health commissioner, then the director of Planned Parenthood, and then a CNN medical analyst. She also discusses the difficulties of starting a family and

I very much enjoyed the early chapters (through her childhood and schooling). The Baltimore section dragged a bit for me, as it turned into "and then we....and then I...". The Planned Parenthood section was quite interesting, as she explains why she was not a good fit and how complicated their internal organization is. When she gets to COVID and being a TV analyst, it picked up again.

I think this book would be especially interesting to anyone considering the field of public health, or those truly fascinated by the field itself. (As opposed to someone like me, who is generally interested in just about anything.)

Dr. Wen has a distinct family history which contributes to her passion for public health. She tells her story well and puts her experience in context as she relates the public health crises of the past few decades.½

I picked up this book because Dr. Wen got her start in the same early college program (Early Entrance at Cal State Los Angeles) as one of my friends from back in North Carolina. Both are now doctors, and this memoir takes us through Wen's upbringing, schooling, and many high-profile career moves. She is perhaps best known for serving briefly as the president of Planned Parenthood but was also the Baltimore City Health Commissioner under two mayors, and there are chapters covering all of these life stops and more. Reasonably inspiring, especially for high achievers that know any sterling resume inevitably has many rough patches behind the scenes.

Lifelines is a very informative, well spoken, documented facts book. I was hoping it would be an easier read, a little more personal and a little less of a textbook study. Still, a very interesting book that touches on current topics and is well balanced. I recommend anyone wanting an in depth medical view of our current events to explore this book.

I was happy to receive this book from LibraryThing, as I've followed Dr. Wen's career to some extent. Her description of her childhood and her family is fascinating; I always find it illuminating to see what brought people to being who they are and doing what they do. I have not quite finished the book because I found it a little easier to get bogged down in her description of her various public health initiatives; these parts of the book are interesting in their own ways, but less personal. I do still plan to fully finish the book and am glad it came my way.

Dr. Leanna Wen has been a comforting voice of reason during the COVID-19 pandemic via the Washington Post and other media. So I was interested to read her memoir "Lifelines." The first chapters are in some ways the most personal as she tells the story of her family's immigrant experiences and the challenges they faced. I was also interested in the day-to-day machinations of Dr. Wen's work as health commissioner of Baltimore. Stories of setbacks and successes in areas such as maternal health, substance abuse, and other areas of population health illustrate the author's commitment to improving conditions for everyone, regardless of where they live or other social determinants of health. The final chapters, which recap the recent national horror of COVID-19, are a bit too close for comfort, but are important to record before authorities who didn't take it seriously try to rewrite history. This book is an informative read for those interested in healthcare careers, health systems, and the intersection of healthcare, politics, and sociology.

Dr. Leana Wen arrived in the United States as a child, an immigrant whose parents were political refugees from China. Experiencing food, financial and health insecurity as a child inspired her to dedicate her life to improving healthcare for others. She describes in this memoir her path to becoming one of the most valued and trusted figures in public health, and details the many programs and successful initiatives she has spearheaded in her career so far.

Dr. Wen's life work is wildly inspirational, but I have to admit reading about public health is not exactly gripping. (Incidentally, the person who can figure out a way to write a page-turner about public health may also likely hold the key to getting people to care more about public health.) There are some fascinating insights about what types of programs are successful and how partisan politics hold us back, as a country, with respect to our overall health. Overall, the book was interesting, but I did have to push myself to work my way through it.

I received this ARC via LibraryThing's Early Reviewers program.

Dr. Wen has been an advocate for public health throughout her career. Drawing on her experiences growing up in poverty, she fought for improvements in the lives of others who struggled with all sorts of issues including access to medical care, addiction, and more. While I appreciated learning about the actions she took in her career, especially the ones in Baltimore, I was hoping for more of a blueprint for action that could be translated to other communities. The title calls the book her journey. It was that, but not really anything more. I admire her deeply for what she has done. I wish she had used this platform to call for further change.

This book is inspiring-- what a life she has led. While the book is autobiographical, its focus is on the importance of public health in specific communities as well as the country. Her experiences are compelling, and her big picture views of agencies and practices are illuminating. I most appreciated her belief in incrementalism and action-- do something, even if it isn’t the perfect solution. She accepted opportunities, made compromises and took risks when necessary, and kept moving forward. Challenges remain in the fight to make public health a priority, but knowing that she and others like her are working on them is a good sign for our country.

In this book Drs. Wen and Kosowsky emphasize the importance of doctors and patients working together to determine the diagnosis of what is wrong with a patient and the best course of treatment. The patient's story is of supreme importance in the correct diagnosis. However, in today's medical climate often doctors follow a "cookbook" medicine approach where they order a lot of tests to rule out certain conditions without listening to a patient's description of what he/she thinks is wrong. This approach leads to the administration of many unnecessary tests, wasted time, and often an incorrect diagnosis. This cookbook approach also leads to the inefficient way medicine is practiced today including the skyrocketing cost of medical treatment. Appendices include worksheets which potential patients should fill in before seeing a doctor.

Highly recommended½

Although it is VERY tough to absorb what's in this book, especially when I think of all of the people I know as potential patients and all of the doctors I know---the points the book is stressing are terrific. The authors emphasize that this is going to be a one-at-a-time change between every doctor and every patient. Unfortunately, although the practice ideas are good, the time involved makes me wonder how many people, including me, will go through them thoroughly. I will make an effort to become a much better patient---time will tell how far I will get.