Intern

I will pretty much read any medical memoir, since I have a fondness for physicians and tend to select that profession (among a few other favorites) for the profession of characters in the novels I write. So I have always been interested in reading what "really happens" in order to write authentically about my characters' lives.

I think we idealize medicine in a way that obviously, we should not. Sandeep Jauhar's account of his medical school and intership/residency training makes it clear that medical training is somewhat like boot camp, tearing the person down to build them up again in a new way. That happens with the sleep deprivation and the unreasonable workload that Jauhar recounts experiencing in his internship year.

And it is frightening to see the model we now use in hospital care, where there are many resources to help a patient -- doctors, nurses, techs -- and a lot of expensive equipment and tests available -- but that the knowledge applied to any one patient is superficial. The surface symptoms are treated, but seldom does anyone have the time or concern to go deeper.

We as a culture have managed to make medicine like factory work. Jauhar cites the need to avoid lawsuits for unnecessary tests and interventions - that sometimes for fear of not doing enough, doctors do too much.

This is a nicely constructed memoir, honest and insightful.