Sounds of a Stethoscope : An Internist's Perspective

A trip to the doctor’s office is rarely celebrated and almost always feared—not just for the possibility of discovering one is sick but also because of the time, effort, money, and frustration that are involved in receiving care.

The work of the doctor providing help is often no less frustrating. As Dr. Tanu Shweta Pandey describes in this firsthand account of the world of a doctor’s office, improving health is an act of teamwork fraught with challenges: both the doctor and the patient need to pull their weight to achieve success.

A specialist in women’s health, Dr. Pandey offers insight into common health concerns raised by women, including sexual desire, physical consequences of women’s footwear, and breast cancer.

Dr. Pandey also tackles healthcare itself, using real-life patient cases to demonstrate the challenges found in navigating the system and how advocacy and improved patient health literacy are necessary to keep the population healthy in the future.

Dr. Pandey’s narrative offers a personal look at where healthcare has been, where it stands, where it is going, and how it affects our lives.

Dr. Tanu Shweta Pandey is a senior physician with over three decades of experience, specializing in internal medicine, women's health, preventive medicine, HIV, patient safety, quality of care, and cardiovascular risk reduction. She graduated from medical school in 1992 and is board certified in internal medicine and preventive medicine. She also has a master of public health and is a fellow of the American College of Physicians.

Dr. Pandey has taken on several teaching roles throughout her career, serving as assistant professor of medicine at Cook County Hospital and Rush University in Chicago, as well as at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA.

Dr. Pandey is a frequently published medical writer and is currently the associate editor of SGIM Forum, a medical peer-reviewed newsletter published by the Society of General Internal Medicine.

She is currently a consultant physician at a private medical group and the medical director at a private insurance company.

Dr Pandey lives in Los Angeles with her husband and son (both engineers who like to build things) as well as her dog Yoda (a Yorkshire terrier who likes to rip them apart). She is profoundly influenced by music in her personal life. She supports several organizations involved in the rehabilitation of vulnerable populations and animals. She advocates for high quality affordable healthcare for all and has developed a software platform to provide telemedicine services in remote areas of developing countries.