"Dr. Dalen is an engaging story teller. His tales of training to become a cardiologist in the 1960's and serving as the dean of colleges of medicine in Massachusetts and Arizona illustrate both the dramatic progress of  medical understanding and technology in the late 20th century as well as the development of the health care crisis that now threatens our whole economy. I learned a lot from this book and love the insight, humor, and good sense that fill its pages. A most enjoyable read."

Andrew Weil, MD. Author of 8 Weeks to Optimum Health
and Why our Health Matters

“Dr. Dalen’s memoir covers a wonderful period of American medicine, and his tales are both edifying and instructive.  This is the book to give to medical students who wonder how it was in those days. I read with great pleasure.”

Abraham Verghese, MD. Author of My Own Country 
and Cutting for Stone

“University Hospitals, Doctors, and Patients is a deeply personal yet historically fascinating log of the evolution of medicine in the past 50 years. It reflects the lived experience of a respected clinician, educator, and academic leader. It is written in the tone of an autobiography, yet is less formal and more earthy. Moving patient vignettes are alternated with tongue-in-cheek human interest stories that illustrate the glories and blunders of academia. His insider view of the culture of academic medicine is both folksy and sage. When you read about how things happen within the university hospital setting, you will be both amused and surprised. The stories about hospital and local politics alone make this a valuable read.

What I enjoyed most about this book were the in-depth, personal accounts of patients Dr. Dalen has treated in his many years as a leading cardiologist and researcher. The stories of patients with heart transplants, pacemakers, stents, and all manner of other technological cures are undergirded by the compassion, commitment, and caring that make a truly outstanding cardiologist rise to the top of his profession.

This book is really a wonderful “short history of the last 50 years in medicine” and provides a perspective that is both insightful and wise. It is an easy read, nice to curl up with near the fire with a cat or a comforter while learning from one of the masters of medicine the real story of medicine at our university hospitals.”

Victor Sierpina, MD. Professor of Family Medicine
University of Texas, Medical Branch

“For doctors, learning doesn't stop when you graduate medical school. "University Hospitals: Doctors and Patients" discusses the advances in medical health care that have occurred in the University hospitals throughout America as doctors research new methods and sciences for healing. The author, a cardiologist and educator, brings his own insights on the university medical world and gives readers much hope for the future as well as insight on his own fears for the future. "University Hospital" is a fine read for the current state of medical technology, highly recommended.”

James Cox Editor-in-Chief
Midwest Book Review

“In a genial guide through a half-century of selected memories from his medical career, James Dalen (pronounced "doll-en") has put together a professional autobiography that is an informed and entertaining read.

The retired dean of the University of Arizona's School of Medicine sprinkles his story with anecdotes. By no means a "tell-all" writer, he is refreshingly frank. A conciliator rather than a crusader, nonetheless he steps forward to declare for a single-payer national health-care system and government regulation of skyrocketing drug costs.”

J.C. Martin
Arizona Daily Star