Primary Care Physician (Ret.) and author

Barken is a primary care physician who practiced solo Internal Medicine in Tompkins County for nearly 25 years, until unfavorable trends in US health care policy made that practice no longer a possibility. Upon leaving practice he set out to write about his professional experiences and to record his reflections on the practice of primary care medicine. Using personal anecdotes accumulated over a quarter-century of care, he reminds us of the central role of the physician-patient relationship as the cornerstone of American health. The result is his important new book, Out Of Practice: Fighting For Primary Care Medicine In America.