First published 2008
Sandeep Jauhar abandoned physics for medicine, seeking a more humane profession. His first year as an intern at a New York City hospital teaches him otherwise. He works eighty hours per week, questioning why he ever wanted to become a doctor. The medical establishment prioritizes everything except patient welfare. Cocky residents and doctors make him feel like an outsider. When Jauhar criticizes internship practices in The New York Times, the medical bureaucracy turns suspicious. Then illness strikes him personally. As a patient, he discovers that high tech, high pressure medicine can still serve humanity. Now a successful cardiologist, Jauhar reflects on his two year ordeal of doubt and sleep deprivation. His memoir reveals how young physicians face their greatest challenge: becoming doctors while staying human.
Genres: medical, autobiography, biography-memoir, academic
Vibes: intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: fish-out-of-water, personal-journey
Setting: New York City
Period: 21st-century
320 pages · Hardcover · Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Content warnings: medical-trauma