What I Learned in Medical School: Personal Stories of Young Doctors

Rating:
Summary: Go get it!
Review: Brilliant! As an immigrant, a person of color, and an economically unprivileged individual, I could relate to every single sentence in the book. Everyone interested in getting into medical school should read "What I Learned In Medical School", particularly those who might have faced roadblocks. The stories are inspirational and come from varied training physicians. All of them clearly show that hard work and perseverance will always triumph over poverty, stress, abuse, or any other obstacle known to man.

I have been in American hospitals before and have not been pleased with the under representation of some groups in the medical field. Hopefully, books like this one should inspire people to achieve the higher things; be it in medicine or anything else out there. I would put this book in every high school library. And if you are a parent, buy this book for your child now! Hopefully the face of medicine and academia will change. I am all for this book!

Some of the essays were touching, some were funny (like Holman's "Sometimes, All You Can Do Is Laugh"), and some even seemed a little silly to me ("A Prayer from a Closeted Christian"). But ALL the stories were touching. "A Case Presentation" was interestingly written. This book has something for everyone.

When you finish the book, you get a sense that the face of medicine in America is changing, albeit slowly. And you learn that physicians are human beings who also come with flaws and imperfections like all of us.

Read it!



Rating:
Summary: What I Learned in Medical School : Personal Stories of Young
Review: Like many exclusive clubs, the medical profession subjects its prospective members to rigorous indoctrination: medical students are overloaded with work, deprived of sleep and normal human contact, drilled and tested and scheduled down to the last minute. Difficult as the regimen may be, for those who don't fit the traditional mold--white, male, middle-to-upper class, and heterosexual--medical school can be that much more harrowing. This riveting book tells the tales of a new generation of medical students--students whose varied backgrounds are far from traditional. Their stories will forever alter the way we see tomorrow's doctors. In these pages, a black teenage mother overcomes seemingly insurmountable odds, an observant Muslim dons the hijab during training, an alcoholic hides her addiction. We hear the stories of an Asian refugee, a Mexican immigrant, a closeted Christian, an oversized woman--these once unlikely students are among those who describe their medical school experiences with uncommon candor, giving a close-up look at the inflexible curriculum, the pervasive competitive culture, and the daunting obstacles that come with being "different" in medical school. Their tales of courage are by turns poignant, amusing, eye-opening--and altogether unforgettable.

Rating:
Summary: What I Learned in Medical School : Personal Stories of Young
Review: Like many exclusive clubs, the medical profession subjects its prospective members to rigorous indoctrination: medical students are overloaded with work, deprived of sleep and normal human contact, drilled and tested and scheduled down to the last minute. Difficult as the regimen may be, for those who don't fit the traditional mold--white, male, middle-to-upper class, and heterosexual--medical school can be that much more harrowing. This riveting book tells the tales of a new generation of medical students--students whose varied backgrounds are far from traditional. Their stories will forever alter the way we see tomorrow's doctors. In these pages, a black teenage mother overcomes seemingly insurmountable odds, an observant Muslim dons the hijab during training, an alcoholic hides her addiction. We hear the stories of an Asian refugee, a Mexican immigrant, a closeted Christian, an oversized woman--these once unlikely students are among those who describe their medical school experiences with uncommon candor, giving a close-up look at the inflexible curriculum, the pervasive competitive culture, and the daunting obstacles that come with being "different" in medical school. Their tales of courage are by turns poignant, amusing, eye-opening--and altogether unforgettable.