Medicine is at a crossroads, stuck at the intersection of forces tugging at its very heart. On the one hand, healthcare is faced with an ageing population and rising healthcare costs. On the other, it is struggling to come to grips with rapidly evolving technology and very enlightened patients.

Many books have looked at Medicine’s crystal ball and the signs pointing to its future. The authors have studied the challenges and hurdles facing Medicine, highlighting the threats and pitfalls along the way.

These books paint the ideal picture of the Medicine of the future. They also offer solutions to the obstacles threatening this bright future. They lay down ground rules which will determine, for good or bad, how healthcare will survive in the coming years and decades.

Which are these books predicting and indeed shaping the future of Medicine? Below are 4 compelling books which address the different facets of Medicine’s future.

The Patient will See You Now by Eric Topol

2030: The Future of Medicine by Richard Barker

The Guide to the Future of Medicine by Bartalan Mesko

The Innovators Prescription by Clayton Christensen and colleagues

Over the next few weeks I will review these four books, starting with The Patient Will See You Now. Keep a date with The Doctors Bookshelf.

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PS: Since I posted this, I have reviewed another book to add to the list:

The Creative Destruction of Medicine by Eric Topol