A Sceptic's Medical Dictioary Paperback - 1997

From the rear cover

"An outrageously overdue, flatteningly iconoclastic, listing of the pomposities, pretensions, and pretences which decorate our beloved profession. How deftly and wittily Dr O'Donnell does the job, which infuriates me - I wish I had written it myself."
--Richard Gordon

Everyone involved in, and indeed all of us how have ever had dealings with, the medical profession will find this dictionary entertaining and enlightening. Michael O'Donnell swiftly demolishes popular myths and clichs, delivers ironic interpretations of medical jargon and verbiage, and in all of his definitions entertains the reader with his devilishly eloquent observations on the all too recognizable follies of human behaviour.

Michael O'Donnell was a family doctor for twelve years before leaving clinical medicine to become an award-winning journalist and broadcaster. On Radio Four, he was chairman of My World!, the word game with Frank Muir and Denis Norden, for which he also compiled the question. He was also a regular contributor to Stop the Week, and writes and presents both Relative Values, the award-winning series on contemporary family life, and the new Radio Four series Utopia and Other Destinations.