Upstream Medicine: Doctors for a Healthy Society

When patients visit a clinic or hospital, they bring stories of the everyday life conditions that made them sick in the first place – stories about where they work, live, and play; stories about income, food security, and housing. Doctors today are listening. Personal stories and patient encounters illuminate the social determinants of health, that is, the upstream source of what too often become complex, painful, and expensive downstream problems. Upstream Medicine features interviews by medical students with leading physicians whose practice brings evidence-based, upstream ideas to life. They show how we can change the practice of medicine to build a healthier society.