Dean-David Schillinger is a primary care physician, scientist, author, and public health advocate. Dr. Schillinger is an internationally recognized expert in health communication and has been widely recognized for his work related to improving the health of vulnerable populations. He is credited with a number of discoveries in primary care and health communication and is considered one of the founders of the field of health literacy. He is a practicing general internist and Chief of the University of California San Francisco (UCSF) Division of General Internal Medicine at San Francisco General Hospital (SFGH), where he founded the UCSF Center for Vulnerable Populations (CVP) in 2006, a leading research center committed to addressing the social determinants of health through research, education, policy and practice.
""Telltale Hearts is about a burgeoning area of medical research: the ways in which socioeconomic factors like poverty, racism and marginalization -- and associated ills like food deserts, housing insecurity and exposure to pollution and violence -- shape the health of many Americans, as well as society's obligation to do better."" --The New York Times ""A humble and honest, heroic and heartrending account of humanistic medicine.""--Booklist (starred) ""Telltale Hearts digs deep into the humanity of patients and caregivers alike, revealing the indispensable connection between medicine and storytelling. Timely and telling!"" --Danielle Ofri, MD, PhD, editor in Chief, Bellevue Literary Review, and author of What Doctors Feel ""Schillinger, a master clinician, uses powerful stories to bring the reader face-to-face with the root causes of the nation's most pressing health problems and the imperative to enact desperately needed changes in health policy and public health. A compelling, beautifully written must-read for all of us who have a personal stake in improving our health and the health of our communities."" --Ronald Epstein, MD, author of Attending ""With this remarkable work, woven from strands of memoir, reportage, prophecy, and stinging indictment, shot through with bright threads of humor and tenderness, and beautifully written, Dean-David Schillinger brings clarity, curiosity, patience, understanding, and an undeniable literary gift to bear on the practice of medicine in this inhumane age."" --Michael Chabon, author of Moonglow