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Title: Becoming a Doctor: A Journey of Initiation in Medical School by Melvin, Md. Konner ISBN: 0-14-011116-6 Publisher: Penguin Books Pub. Date: 01 July, 1988 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $15.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.12 (24 reviews)
Rating: 3
Summary: Misleading title
Comment: I bought this book because of its title: Becoming a Doctor. I realized that it would be one "student's initiation" story, but was more than slightly disappointed when what I came across was the autobiographical story of a very accomplished non-traditional student and his own personal experiences of situations which I may or may not be confronted with myself on any of my rotations in medical school. I had hoped from what I had read, that it would be a book geared towards how medical students (especially non-traditional ones) are recruited by schools and descriptions on the wards and rotations in the clinical years.
Dr. Konner, however, comes from a strong background in anthropology and came upon medicine as a second career choice when he was 33. This book tells his autobiography - how HE got into medicine and why, and who he liked and who he didn't on his different rotations. His purpose was to expose some of the inhuman practices of medical doctors and their pompous attitudes towards their patients, which, for the most part, he succeeds in doing. But as one man regaling his personal experiences, his voice is not an objective one about medical internships in the United States or anywhere else. Had this book been entitled "How I Became a Doctor" or something else along those lines, I would have been much more forgiving in my review of this book.
That said, it must be highlighted that Dr. Konner is a fine author. Even though I was wondering if the cover of my book had somehow landed on another books' pages, it was very well written and it shows that he is an experienced man with a real conscience and a great aptitude towards medical science. This book would have gotten one star had it not been for the author's fine writing and descriptive style. Shame he got the title wrong, though.
Rating: 4
Summary: good for the infor, but bad for his personality.
Comment: The author himself has lots of personality problems. You can read his book to get an insight of the 3rd and 4th year. Beyond that, there is nothing that you will learn from him. I certainly hope that you won't learn anything about how he deals and sees the world.
He is very pompous. I am really glad that he didn't chose to actually practice medicine. He will make a bad doctor, and I doubt that he won't have lots of lawsuits piled up against him. With his personality, he won't go far. He can't take critism.
He likes to say bad things about those people who taught him without positive proves. For example, he wrote "an immigrant physician who happened to be a superb if slightly pompous neurologist." I don't know where he came up with the "pompous" conclusion, because he did not explain further. First of all, everyone should respect his own teaching doctor. Second, even if the doctor was, this is not a book for it. It is simply rude to call someone pompous in a book, which people of generations later can still read.
And he is very self centered. "Hardly anybody I worked with at the hospital even knew I had written a book, much less one that was considered to be quite good." He obviously has an egoistic problem. We all know that anyone has some money can publish a book easily. Why is it necessary that everyone should pay attention to his book nomination, which "would ceremoniously not receive the award in the science category? It is even funny that he wrote, "Ceremoniously not receive." It means that his book was not good at all.
This guy likes to show off, and he doesn't even know it. "It was not usual for me to scoop the residents, or even the other medical students in this type of exercise, so I felt good." I don't see the big deal of giving a correct answer when all others fail. Everyone does that once in a while.
I have taken some time to digest the whole book page by page. If you are interested, email me, I will show you.
Rating: 2
Summary: Becoming a Doctor...
Comment: By the time I had read about 1/2 of this book, I realized that the same thought kept occurring to me over and over....'Konner is writing about everything that I despise in medicine and medical education'. Everything he said and every story he told simply reinforced the old stereotypes of big hospitals, residents, and medical students.
Thankfully, my experience with medical education thus far is not representative of what Konner is writing about, which is what enabled me to take the things he said with a grain of salt and remember that I was only reading his opinion. He writes well and I found his stories entertaining and engaging, even if they were a bit discouraging at times. I appreciated his comments regarding being upset that patient care did not always seem to be a top priority of those he was working with, and that this bothered him. It is true that this book may be eye-opening and a little taste of reality for anyone anticipating a career in medicine, however, it is important to remember that his is experience is not necessarily universal.
I was also turned off by the arrogant, self-promoting approach that Konner took to presenting this information. He certainly took advantage of this public forum to promote himself and remind all of his readers of his accomplishments and how he smart he is (as though I cared that he applied to 18 medical schools including Columbia, Cornell, Yale, Harvard, etc.).
In the end, I actually think that reading this book was a valuable experience. Although I have written about disagreeing with Konner, and not appreciating some of the things he has to say, there are things to be gained from having read his stories. It is valuable to be reminded that in spite of my idealism, the embodiment of the negative stereotypes still exist and I will most likely run into them and have to deal with them in the not-so-distant future. It is also important for me to be reminded that I can be thankful for a positive experience in my medical education to date, and to be able to explain to others that not all of medicine is as Konner reports it to be. I will do everything in my power, both now and in the future, to be a catalyst of positive change regarding issues in medicine that continue to frustrate students and professionals in this field.
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Title: The Intern Blues : The Timeless Classic About the Making of a Doctor by Robert Marion ISBN: 0060937092 Publisher: Perennial Pub. Date: 01 September, 2001 List Price(USD): $15.95 |
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Title: A Not Entirely Benign Procedure: Four Years As a Medical Student by Perri Klass ISBN: 0452272580 Publisher: Plume Books Pub. Date: 01 July, 1994 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
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Title: The House of God: The Classic Novel of Life and Death in an American Hospital by Samuel Shem ISBN: 0385337388 Publisher: Delta Trade Paperbacks Pub. Date: 01 July, 2003 List Price(USD): $11.95 |
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Title: Becoming a Physician : A Practical and Creative Guide to Planning a Career in Medicine by Jennifer Danek, Marita Danek ISBN: 0471121665 Publisher: Wiley Pub. Date: January, 1997 List Price(USD): $16.95 |
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Title: First, Do No Harm by Lisa Belkin ISBN: 044922290X Publisher: Fawcett Books Pub. Date: 01 April, 1994 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
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