“What we need in medical schools is not to teach empathy, as much as to preserve it - the process of learning huge volumes of information about disease, of learning a specialized language, can ironically make one lose sight of the patient one came to serve; empathy can be replaced by cynicism.”

American physician and author

Abraham Verghese is an American physician and author. He is the Linda R. Meier and Joan F. Lane Provostial Professor of Medicine at Stanford Medical School, where he also serves as Vice Chair for the Theory and Practice of Medicine and Internal Medicine Clerkship Director. He is the author of four best-selling books, including two memoirs and two novels. He also co-hosts the Medscape podcast Medicine and the Machine with Eric Topol, reflecting his ongoing interest in medicine, teaching, and the place of technology in clinical care.