She is also a nationally recognized medical reformer and educator who sees the practice of medicine as a spiritual path. In recognition of her work she has received several honorary degrees and has been invited to teach in medical schools and hospitals throughout the country. Her groundbreaking holistic curricula enable physicians at all levels of training to remember their calling and strengthen their commitment to serve life.

Dr. Remen is Clinical Professor of Family and Community Medicine at the UCSF School of Medicine and Director of the innovative UCSF course The Healer's Art, which was recently featured in US News & World Report. She is Founder and Director of the Institute for the Study of Health and Illness, a ten-year-old professional development program for graduate physicians.

She is the author of the New York Times bestseller Kitchen Table Wisdom: Stories That Heal, Riverhead Books, 1996. Her newest book, My Grandfather's Blessings: Stories of Strength, Refuge and Belonging, Riverhead Books, 2000, is a national bestseller. As a master story-teller and public speaker, she has spoken to thousands of people throughout the country, reminding them of the power of their humanity and the ability to use their lives to make a difference. Dr. Remen has a 48-year personal history of Crohn's disease and her work is a unique blend of the viewpoint of physician and patient.

Rachel Naomi Remen, M.D. is a master storyteller and a great observer of life. The wisdom in her books comes from many places, a loving old grandfather and his books of Jewish mysticism, from sick people and dying people and the doctors and nurses who serve them, from children and animals and the people who sit next to you on airplanes or stand behind you in the grocery store. It is the same wisdom you encounter in your own life every day. Remen was born into a family of service, of highly skilled doctors and nurses, the children of her grandfather, an orthodox rabbi. As a child, she felt torn between her grandfather who blessed life and her scientific uncles, aunts and cousins who served life. But as the end of the day, it has turned out that these two seemingly divergent life paths may lead to the same destination. As you read her books, you will at first feel like a member of her family but as these stories go on, you will discover that the family you are invited to belong to is the human race itself. My Grandfather's Blessings and Kitchen Table Wisdom are books that will touch you, change you and connect you more deeply to life. Be prepared to laugh and to cry, to look at yourself and others in new ways, and in the end, to discover that your life is far richer than you knew and you are a better person than you ever dreamed.