The Scalpel and the Soul: Encounters with Surgery, the Supernatural, and the Healing Power of Hope Hardback - 2008 - 1st Edition

"Funny, irreverent, earthy, big-hearted, honest, real -- just some of the adjectives that describe Allan J. Hamilton, MD, neurosurgeon and author of The Scalpel and the Soul. Dr. Hamilton has written a series of short, pithy first-person essays that tie together his childhood experiences, medical training, unusual and uplifting relationships with patients, and his own very human doubts, fears, and triumphs."
--Family Circle Online 'Books of the Month' Review

'A Harvard-educated neurosurgeon reveals his remarkable experiences in and out of the operating room with apparitions, after-death survivaland the miracle of hope. This exhilarating examination of the life-giving powers of the soul will make a lasting impact on your own life.'
--One Spirit Book Club review

"There are moments in this spiritual memoir when readers will wish he were their personal guide for the scariest of surgeries ......Readers will be moved by stories of former patients like Thomas, a child burn victim with such a gift of spirit that he could manage joy despite his tragic condition, and "Donald" a brave man determined to live life to the fullest despite a vicious brain tumor. Hamilton's voice soars when he reflects on his experience as a brain surgeon."
--Publisher's Weekly

"Allan Hamilton is a natural storyteller. His real-life experiences remind us that patients and surgeons can share in a spiritual transformation during the course of battling disease. He also reminds us that every patient presents a dramatic opportunity to see the miraculous, the inexplicable, and the inspirational at work."
--Linda Klein R.N., Producer,Grey's Anatomy & Nip/Tuck

"In The Scalpel and The Soul, acclaimed Neurosurgeon Allan Hamilton shares his considerable knowledge and experience while baring his heart, soul and passion for his profession and for pursuing those unique patient occurrences that defy scientific explanation with our current knowledge of traditional western medicine. His observations and insights push the limits of current scientific knowledge as he attempts to bring some rational thought to the unexplainable. This book is thought provoking and will equally inspire the average citizen as much as it does our fellow physicians and scientists."
--Richard Carmona, MD, MPH, FACS, 17th Surgeon General of The United States

"A tragic error in medical education is that doctors are taught to think and not feel. The Scalpel & the Soul is a moving account of what can happen when a doctor opens his heart and his eyes to life's spiritual lessons and the mystery that thrives amidst the terror and trauma of life-threatening illness. This book will be appreciated by everyone who reads it because we are the same at both ends of the scalpel."
--Bernie Siegel, MD, author of Help Me To Heal and Prescriptions For Living

"Allan Hamilton has the whole-person perspective that I emphasize in integrative medicine. Like me he regards patients as not just physical bodies but also as metal/emotional beings and spiritual entities. In order to understand health and illness, doctors must examine and attend to those dimensions of human life as well as the physical, even when the physical body is obviously damaged or sick."
--Andrew Weil, MD, author of 8 Weeks to Optimum Health, Spontaneous Healing,Natural Health, Natural Medicine and many more.