An Intimate Portrait of Mentorship, Medicine, and a Revolutionary Mind
The Lessons Doctor Sarno Taught Me is not a treatment book-it's a deeply personal reflection on one of medicine's most important mentor-student relationships.
Dr. David Schechter was Dr. John Sarno's prot g and first medical trainee. Their relationship began when Schechter was a medical student suffering from chronic pain, successfully diagnosed and treated by Dr. Sarno himself. This led to a research collaboration in Sarno's office suite, and eventually evolved from student-teacher to professional colleagues to fond friends-a bond that spanned decades until Sarno's final years.
Twelve Chapters. Eighteen Lessons. One Extraordinary Mentor.
Written during the 100th year since Dr. Sarno's birth, this book honors his immense contributions to medicine while exploring the complexity of learning from a powerful innovator. Schechter offers rare, behind-the-scenes glimpses into Sarno's thinking, his work with patients, and his approach to the chronic pain that conventional medicine had failed to understand.
What Readers Are Saying:
"Intimate and humanizing vignettes""Captures Sarno's immense contributions""Rare and fascinating glimpses"This Is Not a Hagiography
Rather than idealization, Schechter reflects honestly on the complexities of mentorship-what it means to learn from a brilliant but strong-willed mentor, to navigate the dynamics of power and respect, and ultimately to forge a relationship that ended with warmth and mutual appreciation in Sarno's final years.
Who This Book Is For:
Those curious about Dr. John Sarno beyond his clinical workMedical students and physicians interested in the nature of mentorshipReaders fascinated by the human side of medical innovationAnyone who wants to understand the lessons-both professional and personal-that come from working alongside a true pioneerThe Lessons Learned include insights on working with patients and approaching TMS/chronic pain, but if you choose to read this book, it's to learn about an amazing man and the profound nature of mentorship between an experienced, powerful doctor and his much younger student and colleague.