"The Ghost Map" Report

The Ghost Map was a great book, and I’d recommend it to anyone who is interested in a leadership or entrepreneurial role, regardless of whether it’s health related or not. The reason for that is because in the book, the main characters, Dr.John Snow and Reverend Henry Whitehead, must convince the religious and scientific figures of their time that indeed their predictions about cholera’s spread are correct. Leadership and new ideas take perseverance in the face of doubt and humiliation in order to be successful, and “The Ghost Map” embodies this idea perfectly. 

I had the pleasure of reading this book last year in my public health course at St.Olaf and during this interim comparative public health course; both times, I found myself in awe at the fact that the characters were actually able to find the source of the Cholera and inspired to use their example in my life. For instance, as we discussed in our class discussion on this book, health care providers today face similar challenges that the main characters in “The Ghost Map” faced, and therefore could use similar strategies to combat them. Doctors today face the challenge of taking on patients who believe that they know exactly what’s best for them either due to misguided beliefs, alternative/religious beliefs, and advertisements. In order to get these patients to trust them and allow the doctors to help them, doctors must foster a non-judgemental, team-based practice(as opposed an to “I know better than you, so just do as I say” approach, which many doctors do!) Dr.Snow and Rev. Whitehead had to do just that as they investigated the source of Cholera when facing the miasma theorists, stubborn religious figures, and popular scientists. It seems to me that the key to doing this was in collaborating together and going out to prove that their thoughts had merit, and not to show the world that everyone else is wrong; it’s a fine line, and it’s important to not cross it in order to maintain the trust of those with whom we interact.

Overall, I learned much about Cholera, public health, and perseverance through reading this book. It was a perfect way to get my feet wet in what actually defines public health and to observe the challenges it confronted years ago that still are very prevalent today (such as resistance, lack of support, and creativity as to where to begin)!