Former School of Medicine Dean Clifton K. Meador's ninth book, Symptoms of Unknown Origin — A Medical Odyssey, highlights a master clinician's thoughtful journey toward a fuller understanding of patients' symptoms and the stories their illnesses reveal.

At the end of his UAB deanship, Dr. Meador says, "I decided to redirect my clinical interests from pure endocrinology to a broader look at illness, particularly at patients with symptoms but no obvious medical disease. I had begun to ask myself, 'If these people do not have a medical disease, then what is their problem?'"

On return to his alma mater, Vanderbilt University, where he now serves as director of the Meharry-Vanderbilt program, he began with a systematic approach, defining "symptoms of unknown origin" as those of "more than a month's duration for which there was no apparent medical disease." His odyssey led early on to the conclusion "that the prevailing biomolecular model of disease is too restrictive for clinical use. His 10-step plan for dealing with these patients "puts equal value on physical, psychological, social, and spiritual information."

The book is filled with fascinating cases that exemplify Dr. Meador's growing understanding about how to listen to and respect patients' stories and how to guide and coach them into uncovering previously hidden correlations; for example, the secretary's diarrhea induced by an embezzling boss; and the divorcing mother with abdominal pains.

Using a fruitful technique, he asks patients to log symptoms in a daily diary, a method that uncovered, for instance, that Jim, a physician, developed gynecomastia after sexual intercourse with his wife, who had been using an estrogen cream for atrophic vaginitis, and that Agnes's diarrhea was related to use of a certain toothpaste. And he describes cleverly how to deal with especially frustrating patients – those intent on defeating the physician by staying sick.

Dr. Meador concludes, "It is time we studied the doctor-patient relationship systematically and found better ways to be in tune with the diverse human beings we see in our practices. If we are successful, fewer patients will be labelled with diseases they do not have and more will be guided toward healthier lives." Written in an engaging manner, this book provides an impressive step towards achieving those goals.