Books

New Book (in progress)

Physiatry changed the way medicine thinks about healing.
It’s time the rest of the world caught up.

Most people don’t see disability coming — and when it arrives, whether suddenly or slowly, medicine focuses on the diagnosis. On the cure.

But for millions of Americans, the most urgent question isn’t what do I have? It’s what can I still do, and who’s going to help me get there? That gap in medicine is real. Physiatry fills it.

Drawing on the oral histories of more than 90 physiatrists — along with the voices of patients, families, and advocates — this book reveals a specialty built not around curing disease, but around restoring function, independence, and dignity. Nonsurgical. Team-based. Relentlessly patient-centered.

This is the story of a medical specialty that has always been ahead of its time and why, in an America defined by aging, injury, chronic illness, and disability, we need dramatically more of it.

Shaken Brain

The Science, Care, and Treatment of Concussion

Today concussions aren’t just injuries they’re big news. And, like anything in the news, they’re the subject of much misinformation. Shaken Brain is the resource patients and their families, friends, and caregivers need to understand how concussions and other traumatic brain injuries occur, what to expect from healthcare providers, and what the long-term consequences may be.

Front cover of "The Shaken Brain," a book about traumatic brain injury

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In 'Shaken Brain', Dr. Sandel gracefully illuminates the complex condition of concussion/mild traumatic brain injury (TBI) so that it is not only accessible to the non-clinician, non-scientist, but also informative to practitioners who have been in the field for years.

John Leddy

Professor, Medical Director, Concussion Management Clinic, SUNY Buffalo

John Leddy (2021) Review of Shaken Brain, Brain Injury, 35:3, 382-383, DOI: 10.1080/02699052.2021.1874048

A physician with thirty-five years of experience treating people with traumatic brain injuries shares the latest research on concussions and best practices for care.

Shaken Brain offers expert advice and urgently needed answers. Elizabeth Sandel, MD, is a board-certified physician who has spent more than three decades treating patients with traumatic brain injuries, training clinicians, and conducting research. Here she explains the scientific evidence for what happens to the brain and body after a concussion or other traumatic brain injury. And she shares stories from a diverse group of patients, educating readers on prevention, diagnosis, and treatment. Few people understand that what they do in the aftermath of their injury will make a dramatic difference to their future well-being; patient experiences testify to the best practices for concussion sufferers and their caregivers. Dr. Sandel also shows how to evaluate risks before participating in activities and how to use proven safety strategies to mitigate these risks.

The explosion of attention to sports concussions has many of us thinking about the addled brains of our football and hockey heroes. But concussions happen to everyone, not just elite athletes. Children fall from high chairs, drivers and cyclists get into accidents, and workers encounter unexpected obstacles on the job. Concussions (also known as mild traumatic brain injuries) are prevalent, occurring even during everyday activities. In fact, in less time than it takes to read this sentence, three Americans will experience a concussion. The global statistics are no less staggering.

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