The Real Doctor Will See You Shortly
A Physician's First Year
Ratings5
Average rating3.6
A scorchingly frank look at how doctors are made, bringing readers into the critical care unit to see one burgeoning physician's journey from ineptitude to competence. In medical school, Matt McCarthy dreamed of being a different kind of doctor—the sort of mythical, unflappable physician who could reach unreachable patients. But when a new admission to the critical care unit almost died his first night on call, he found himself scrambling. Visions of mastery quickly gave way to hopes of simply surviving hospital life, where confidence was hard to come by and no amount of med school training could dispel the terror of facing actual patients. This funny, candid memoir of McCarthy’s intern year at a New York hospital provides a scorchingly frank look at how doctors are made, taking readers into patients’ rooms and doctors’ conferences to witness a physician's journey from ineptitude to competence. McCarthy's one stroke of luck paired him with a brilliant second-year adviser he called “Baio” (owing to his resemblance to the Charles in Charge star), who proved to be a remarkable teacher with a wicked sense of humor. McCarthy would learn even more from the people he cared for, including a man named Benny, who was living in the hospital for months at a time awaiting a heart transplant. But no teacher could help McCarthy when an accident put his own health at risk, and showed him all too painfully the thin line between doctor and patient. The Real Doctor Will See You Shortly offers a window on to hospital life that dispenses with sanctimony and self-seriousness while emphasizing the black-comic paradox of becoming a doctor: How do you learn to save lives in a job where there is no practice?
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BLUF: Humorous insight into another's profession and/or the difficult years of being an intern/resident.
Let me start out with acknowledging that the author isn't always truthful in his accounts and has a history of embellishing his stories with events that didn't actually happen. If you're looking for an accurate account, this may bother you and you may want to research the author and his controversy before cracking this book open. If you're okay with the idea that this account may not be entirely truthful, you're in for a treat.
I didn't know anything about this book when I picked it. It was simply one of the new books on my OverDrive library, described as being a humorous account of a doctor's resident years. Well, this book is exactly that.
We follow Matt McCarthy through his first years on the job at a training hospital. As expected, there are many ups and downs in this novel, from interactions with patients and other residents to the trauma that a patient's death causes to the insecurity one feels being new in a field that requires experience.
It's amazing how well the writer can take an everyday life story and transform it into something captivating. This book is an emotional and entertaining read.
Nervously I approached this book. How many times have I been burned by my anticipated hopes for a memoir by someone with an intriguing point of view who turns out to have few storytelling skills?
Eagerly, let me assure you, Matt McCarthy can write. Whew. One hurdle. And he has a great story, that first year as a doctor. Whew. Second hurdle. And we're in the race.
I read on and on, watching from the sidelines as our doctor, who is expected to leave college and be ready to handle every health condition with speed and knowledge, fumbles the ball and punts the ball and throws incomplete passes. It's all so unexpected and, apparently, normal, that it leaves you wondering how anyone survives even a short stay in the hospital. It's so refreshingly frank, as well, that you know every day this young doctor is getting a college education in the care of patients, and you are glad.
Loved this read.
