Medical Mysteries Across History Audiobook By Roy Benaroch MD, The Great Courses cover art

Medical Mysteries Across History

Preview
Try for $0.00
Access a growing selection of included Audible Originals, audiobooks, and podcasts.
You will get an email reminder before your trial ends.
Audible Plus auto-renews for $7.95/mo after 30 days. Upgrade or cancel anytime.

Medical Mysteries Across History

By: Roy Benaroch MD, The Great Courses
Narrated by: Roy Benaroch MD
Try for $0.00

$7.95 a month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $7.99

Buy for $7.99

Confirm purchase
Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.
Cancel

About this listen

In medical school, every patient is a teaching case - and every patient can be your teacher. For hundreds of years, medical students around the world have learned the secrets of medicine by looking at real cases, involving real people and featuring real symptoms.

But what happens when those medical cases are a mystery? How do doctors diagnose illnesses and save lives using the best knowledge they have about health and disease? What differences (and similarities) are there between the ways doctors work today and the ways they worked thousands of years ago?

In these 10 eye-opening lectures by a practicing doctor and medical educator, you’ll walk through a series of medical mystery cases ripped from history and involving well-known historical figures whose identities are nevertheless hidden from you. Every one of these cases (featuring presidents, scientists, singers, kings, and queens) requires you to use your detective skills to identify and diagnose the mystery patient just like the doctors that attended them. In the process, you’ll learn fascinating insights into medicine: both the medicine that was practiced thousands of years ago and the medicine doctors practice today.

What are the historic and modern consequences of fever? How do doctors diagnose and treat cardiovascular disease and alcoholism? How does radiation and heavy metal poisoning affect the human body? What so-called “modern” diseases were actually documented in the ancient past? Solving these mystery cases will give you a new perspective on how the human body works - and on some world-changing figures whom you’ve never viewed from a doctor’s point of view.

©2019 Audible Originals, LLC (P)2020 Audible Originals, LLC.
Americas United States Fiction Royalty Mystery Thought-Provoking Medical education Detective Medical School Medical History

Our favorite moments from Medical Mysteries Across History

The King is Dying: Lecture 2, Chapter 3
  • The King is Dying: Lecture 2, Chapter 3
The king is dying.
-0.00
The Fatigue of a Tireless Scientist: Lecture 6, Chapter 7
  • The Fatigue of a Tireless Scientist: Lecture 6, Chapter 7
A tired scientist
-0.00
An American tragedy: Lecture 9, Chapter 10
  • An American tragedy: Lecture 9, Chapter 10
An American tragedy
-0.00
  • The King is Dying: Lecture 2, Chapter 3
  • The king is dying.
  • The Fatigue of a Tireless Scientist: Lecture 6, Chapter 7
  • A tired scientist
  • An American tragedy: Lecture 9, Chapter 10
  • An American tragedy
adbl_web_global_use_to_activate_webcro805_stickypopup

About the Professor

Dr. Roy Benaroch is a general pediatrician, author, and educator. He earned his Bachelor of Science in Engineering at Tulane University, followed by his MD at Emory University. He completed his residency through the Emory University’s affiliated hospitals in 1997, serving as Chief Resident and Instructor of Pediatrics in 1998. He has continued his involvement on the Emory faculty as an Adjunct Assistant Professor of Pediatrics. In addition to his clinical responsibilities, Dr. Benaroch teaches medical students and residents at his practice and gives regular lectures to physician’s assistants at Emory University. Dr. Benaroch has published two books on parenting and pediatric health topics: Solving Health and Behavioral Problems from Birth through Preschool: A Parent’s Guide and A Guide to Getting the Best Health Care for Your Child. He also writes a blog for parents and health professionals. His essays on pediatric health have been widely published on the internet, and he has served as a featured expert on WebMD.
In association with the Great Courses, Dr. Benaroch has developed several lecture series, including Medical School for Everyone: Grand Rounds Cases, Medical School for Everyone: Emergency Medicine, Medical School for Everyone: Pediatric Grand Rounds, and The Skeptic’s Guide to Health, Medicine, and the Media. In addition to his work in private practice and as a teacher and writer, Dr. Benaroch serves as Chair of The Children’s Care Network, a clinically integrated network of more than 1,000 Atlanta-area pediatric care providers.

What listeners say about Medical Mysteries Across History

Highly rated for:

Engaging Stories Intriguing Mysteries Captivating Narratives Historical Figures Medical Insights
Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    977
  • 4 Stars
    232
  • 3 Stars
    72
  • 2 Stars
    8
  • 1 Stars
    7
Performance
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    937
  • 4 Stars
    138
  • 3 Stars
    43
  • 2 Stars
    2
  • 1 Stars
    3
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    860
  • 4 Stars
    181
  • 3 Stars
    66
  • 2 Stars
    4
  • 1 Stars
    4

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Great short stories

This book consists of 10 short medical mysteries, perfect for my relatively short drives. Narration was excellent, very engaging.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Nice take on a lecture

This is an interesting take on a lecture. The author presents a famous historical figure as a medical case. He describes the person in vague detail, gradually adding more information about the person as he talks about the presenting symptoms (some of which are red herrings). He seemed to expect that people could guess the disease. I think that's unlikely for anyone except actual doctors, but it is fun to try to see how quickly you can guess who he is talking about.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

My favorite book now

A really interesting set of intriguing stories, accompanied by peculiar medical facts presented in a nonchalant and comprehensible way. A great and original idea for a book

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Fantastic all around!

My family and I all work in the medical field (my father and I are also particularly fond of history), we had a lot of fun listening to this and trying to come up with the answers to the disease and patient as quickly and with little information as possible.
Would highly recommend to anyone in the medical field who likes history or anyone who is into this sort of stuff.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Very informative account of medical issues with historical figures

Dr. Benaroch is a very entertaining speaker. He talks about various health issues with well-known people from the last several centuries. You never know which person he’s talking about at first. You have to guess. This makes the stories more interesting because often we haven’t been told the whole story surrounding a particular famous person’s illness or death.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Great Listen

Thoroughly enjoyed this audiobook. Author made good points and shared common sense with his audience. I ignored the input coming from the "anti-woke" crowd. Enough said.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Great!

My mother was a nurse for 40 years and when I started looking for summer jobs I turned to hospital work. I worked as an Aide, a Desk Clerk and the assistant to the Director of Nursing. I also learned what I didn’t want to be when I got out of school - a nurse. But I was fascinated by Medicine and diagnosis. I didn’t want to go through the many years of schooling to become a doctor. If I had it to do over again today I would probably become a Physician’s Assistant. My work experience through the years has been in clinics and hospitals as an Educator and I then moved on and finished my working life as a Cardiovascular Pharmaceutical Representative. I know a lot about Medicine and I still find the art of diagnosis fascinating. That’s why I chose this book. I named the historical figures 9 out of 10 (I don’t do sports) and I got 8 out of 10 on the diagnoses. The book is very good and the narrator is excellent.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

We owe our lives to those who came before us!

Truly fascinating accounts of historical figures and their medical conditions, with a simplified explanation of medical conditions. Fabulous narrator.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

DIAGNOSIS

From kings to jazz singers, Roy Benaroch reviews the diagnosis of ten historical figures with a medical opinion about their cause of death. Based on written evidence of their physical complaints, Benaroch offers a medical opinion about what today's knowledge of medicine would have revealed about their lives and causes of death. Benaroch presents his analysis with an element of mystery by not revealing the more familiar names of the dying person until later in each chapter.

Doctor Benaroch's fundamental point in writing this speculative history is to emphasize the importance of a patient's explanation of their symptoms in coming to a conclusion about a diagnosis. Physical examination is important but listening to a patient's physical and mental explanations of their condition are the best evidence for determining a correct diagnosis. This is the belief of other physician's books that have been reviewed in this blog. There are many reasons why doctors may misdiagnose a patient's condition. Some are too busy to take the time necessary to properly understand a patient's comments. Doctors have various levels of experience and may not know how to interpret what a patient is saying. That does not change the point of Benaroch's observations. It is essential for a good diagnosis to be based on the details of the patient's history.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

So interesting!

I’m not a medical professional by any means, but I do pay attention to my health and have had a couple issues that required some digging to discover root causes (luckily I have had good doctors!) So I found this so very interesting; not only because of the process of uncovering and understanding symptoms and causes but the historical aspect included with the lectures. I am looking forward to additional courses by Dr Roy!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!