His own training in Ethiopia was interrupted by civil unrest. Like the twins in his novel, Marian and Shiva, Verghese was born in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to Indian parents. The historical and cultural aspects of Cutting for Stone are so natural that it is no surprise that the story bears a resemblance to Verghese’s personal background. Verghese’s philosophy of synthesizing science with the human experience is unique and unfortunately under appreciated in today’s digitalized, paper-work laden, efficiency-consumed practice of medicine. In a TED talk at TEDGlobal 2011, Verghese emphasized the importance of the physical examination, a practice which today is mostly neglected in favor of technology but which Verghese claims is indispensable for the sake of ritual, connection and comfort.

Not only does he include realistic details of illness and surgeries in his novel, but he brings his sense of spirit and rich emotional landscape into the practice of medicine, allowing him to reinstate the doctor-patient relationship (medicine the way it used to be before technology). So what kind of doctor is Verghese? “Cutting for Stone” clearly demonstrates Verghese’s ability to understand human interaction and emotion on a very real world level. Marion is acutely aware of his environment and affected by it as he interns in a hospital in the Bronx. Shiva is self-taught, focused and often emotionless. Their training, approach to patients and view of their own roles as medical practitioners is vastly different. Both brothers choose medical careers, but that is where the similarities end. The twins, Shiva and Marion, are born attached at the head and though they were successfully separated by surgery they maintain an intricate and somewhat miraculous connection. It tells the story of twin brothers who are born in Missing, an Ethiopian hospital, into shocking and tragic circumstances. “Cutting for Stone” is fiction but borrows liberally from Verghese’s life experiences. Verghese’s third and most recent novel, “Cutting for Stone” (a best-seller on The New York Times list for more than two years) is a testament to his truly unique ability to combine his knowledge of medicine and surgery with his gift for story telling. Verghese juggles the titles of doctor, professor and best selling author so effortlessly and fluidly you would think he somehow found a way to avoid the necessity of sleep, teaching medical students by day and then cranking out elegant prose by night.

Not so with Abraham Verghese, a professor and vice chair for the Theory and Practice of Medicine at the School of Medicine at Stanford University. Interdisciplinary is a term that gets tossed around a lot these days, a sought after label whose true meaning sometimes gets lost in the academic rhetoric.

Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese