Story of My Book
Tasting YOUR OWN Medicine: How to Advocate for Yourself in Healthcare Settings is a book meant to empower individuals to take control of their medical decisions and to advocate for themselves during conversations with their health professionals and in determining the course of their care. It includes research and narratives from people who have experienced the healthcare system as patients or loved ones of patients and from professionals working within the system itself, while also including some of my own personal experiences as a patient.
My name is Karan Mirpuri and I am the author of Tasting YOUR OWN Medicine. I wrote this book because I wanted to provide individuals with an understandable, narrative-based resource that gives them guidance on how to become involved in their conversations with their health professionals. Being inquisitive and curious about your care does not make you a bad patient and providing patients with that voice both as a loved one and a health professional can be immensely valuable in their ultimate outcomes and benefit all parties involved.
My hope is that, in reading this book, you will discover novel techniques to make conversations with your health professionals easier and less scary. In this book, I hope to instill in you the same sort of passion and excitement that I have for patient advocacy and health education and awareness. Ultimately, I want you to see this book as a tool to help you navigate situations and conversations pertaining to your own health and supporting others who you care about in similar instances.
In this book, you'll learn about the doctor-patient relationship, emotional literacy, and the value of self-care. You'll hear stories such as...
From Karan to Karen - My journey going “undercover” as an expecting mother attending various Zoom classes on childbirth and pregnancy. It is filled with humorous moments and valuable insights about what we can learn from the doula model of care to support those we love through their medical experiences.
Emily Ross - The story of a young teenage girl in Michigan and how a simple blood test made her realize the value of being thorough and doing your due diligence as a patient.
Fred Lee - Having served as a vice president at two major medical centers and a cast member at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Fred Lee provides valuable insight regarding what the medical field can learn from amusement parks to enhance the quality of their care and the overall patient experience.
You will love this book if you are a patient in any stage of treatment, are a loved one or caregiver of a patient, work or are interested in working in health-related professions, or are interested in learning how to advocate for yourself in healthcare settings.
Tasting YOUR OWN Medicine is a nonfiction book that speaks to ordinary adolescents and adults, trained patient advocates, and healthcare professionals who want to look at patient advocacy, empowerment, and support in a new way.
The Book - Tasting YOUR OWN Medicine
The book is written in 3 parts.
Part 1 contains the introduction + chapters 1-3. This section is meant to provide context regarding how the doctor-patient relationship came to be what it is today, why we crave autonomy and the factors that motivate us to make the choices that we do, and what health education currently looks like for American youth and ways in which it can improve.
Part 2 contains chapters 4-6. These chapters serve to develop the concept of the curious patient and caregiver, emphasizing the qualities and approaches that are applied to healthcare, such as viewing medicine as a team sport rather than a one-sided discussion, while also exploring the importance of emotional literacy from both the personal and professional perspectives.
Part 3 contains chapters 7-9. As a culmination of the previous parts, Part 3 is meant to provide more actionable items for patients, their loved ones, and aspiring healthcare professionals so that they can apply this approach directly to their own care.
What I Need & What You'll Get
This book will be published with New Degree Press. I set up the pre-order tiers to help cover the costs for publishing my book. Money raised will go towards the following:
The editor I will work with to revise and publish my manuscript in April, 2021.
The cover design of my book. (The mockups you see currently are a placeholder!)
The layout design for the interior of my book (physical copy, ebook formats).
The copy editing for my book to polish the grammar and spelling prior to publication.
The launch & promotion efforts for my book when I ultimately publish this Spring.
When I pre-sell 120 copies of my book, I will publish a paperback and ebook. When I pre-sell 150 copies of my book, I will also publish a hardcover edition. When I pre-sell 200 copies of my book, I will publish a hardcover edition and an audiobook.
I am also offering some exclusive rewards for people who pre-order my book now:
You will receive a personally signed copy of my book when I publish.
Your name will appear in the Acknowledgments section of my book.
You will receive early access to the Introduction and other excerpts from my book, with the opportunity to review them and give me early feedback.
You will have the opportunity to be involved in selecting my cover and title.
You will be invited to join my Author Community and get behind-the-scenes sneak peeks into the publishing process.
And much more!
About the Author
Karan Mirpuri is a sophomore at Vanderbilt University on the pre-medical track to pursue a career in the medical field. At Vanderbilt, he works as an undergraduate research assistant at the Vanderbilt SENSE (Social Emotional NeuroScience Endocrinology) Lab, where he assists in studies examining social and neurological development in individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders. He also volunteers as a student VUceptor (Fall Orientation Leader), serves as one of the Alumni, Marketing, and Public Relations Coordinators of Camp Kesem at Vanderbilt University, and is one of the captains of Vandy Raas, Vanderbilt’s garba-raas dance team.
As a former patient who has undergone multiple procedures throughout his life, Karan wrote this book in hopes of learning more about the emotions and anxieties patients of all ages may experience in healthcare settings, regardless of the severity of their conditions. With this book, he seeks to provide individuals with a first step that motivates them to speak up during their doctors appointments and ensure that they reassure them that being curious and inquisitive about one’s care is not the sign of a bad patient.
Aside from his academic aspirations, Karan loves watching movies and TV shows, going to the beach, excessively snacking, and playing with his three yorkies Sophie, Lucy, and Lily. According to his friends, you may also recognize him as the sole person sprinting across parts of campus minutes before his next class or meeting.
For more information, you can connect with Karan at karan.mirpuri@vanderbilt.edu and at @karan.mirpuri (Instagram).
Risks & Challenges
The biggest challenge with publishing a book is delivering the finished book to the backer, specifically my mailing of the book to you. I have eliminated this risk by including the cost of mailing and shipping the signed copies into each pre-order tier.
The risk of delivering the pre-sale copies of my book is contingent on the publisher we use. I will be working closely with New Degree Press to make sure we ship the pre-order rewards to you as early as possible. We will keep all pre-sale backers up-to-date as to when my book will publish. You will know when the copies of my book you pre-ordered are expected to ship.
Other Ways You Can Help
Some people just can't contribute, but that doesn't mean they can't help:
Please share my pre-sale campaign on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn with your friends, family and network. Please use #[TastingYOUROWNMedicine] and tag me as well as my publisher, New Degree Press, so that we can help amplify your efforts.
You can easily share my pre-sale campaign via Indiegogo at the top of the page.
Please share my book with 5 friends, family members, or co-workers who you think would enjoy it via text or direct message on social media.