Martine Ehrenclou, M.A., is an award-winning author, healthcare advocate, speaker and patient. Her newest health book, The Take-Charge Patient: How You Can Get The Best Medical Care, winner of 18 book awards, empowers readers to become proactive and effective participants in their own health care. Through her books, lectures, media interviews, published articles and blog, Martine reveals insider information on how to interact effectively with medical professionals and navigate the health care system. She interviewed over 200 physicians, nurses, other medical professionals and patients for this book.
Six months into her research for The Take-Charge Patient, Martine developed debilitating, chronic pain that lasted sixteen months and used every strategy in her new book. She went from an advocate for others to an advocate for herself, and became her own take-charge patient. After eleven doctors failed to diagnose her correctly, Martine's exhaustive research led her to the surgeon who diagnosed her and cured her. She is has been pain free for over three years.
Martine regularly publishes articles on the topics of patient engagement, patient advocacy, patient satisfaction, patient safety, successful communication in medical encounters, the collaborative relationship between patients and medical professionals, and other health/medical related issues. She has been interviewed on national TV, radio, newspapers and magazines, including NBC News, ABC News, KCAL 9/CBS News, NPR, Prevention Magazine, Woman's Day, Family Circle, Los Angeles Times Magazine and many more. Martine also lectures at universities, hospitals, and health organizations. She writes a blog on health, health care, patient safety, patient advocacy & more.
Martine is also the author of the award winning, Critical Conditions: The Essential Hospital Guide To Get Your Loved One Out Alive which won 15 book awards.
Martine is a board member of UCLA Simms/Mann Center for Integrative Oncology. She has a master's degree in psychology from Pepperdine University and has a certificate in patient advocacy from UCLA. Prior to becoming a health writer and patient advocate, Martine was a journalist, ghostwriter and public relations professional. She created and ran a writing program for at-risk teenagers . Her personal experience with loved ones with extended hospitalizations changed her career path in 2001.
Visit her at her websites, www.TheTakeChargePatient.com and www.CriticalConditions.com Blog: martineehrenclou.com
