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The House of God: The Classic Novel of Life and Death in an American Hospital By Samuel Shem ( Dell )
Release Date: 2003-07-01
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List Price: $13.00
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Product Description
Now a classic! The hilarious novel of the healing arts that reveals everything your doctor never wanted you to know. Six eager interns -- they saw themselves as modern saviors-to-be. They came from the top of their medical school class to the bottom of the hospital staff to serve a year in the time-honored tradition, racing to answer the flash of on-duty call lights and nubile nurses. But only the Fat Man --the Clam, all-knowing resident -- could sustain them in their struggle to survive, to stay sane, to love-and even to be doctors when their harrowing year was done.
From the Paperback edition.
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classic
i enjoyed reading this novel. in it, the author follows the main character through the trials and tribulations of internship. this book goes a long way to portray physicians as human beings instead of a god-like figure. this book will make you laugh, it will make you sad and it will make you think.
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 Must read for medical professionals
This is a must read for any medical professionals, especially medical students who are deciding what specialty to enter. It is a legendary book in medical school, with good humors, lots of basic knowledge on the ways of medical education as well as give you an understanding on the pitfall of our medical system.
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Deserves more than 5 stars
I first read this when it had just come out. I had been living in Canada and had just returned to the States and to the American Medical Business.
I was shocked, distressed, disgusted at what I read. Yet, as I knew many first year residents in hospitals at the same time I read this book, I knew how true it was.
I was thoroughly disgusted with the field that exploited its med students (and especially its residents and young physicians, at the great life-and-often-death expense of patients, just so hospitals and attending physicians can enrich themselves.
No wonder the author became a psychiatrist after writing this book.
Sad to say, much of what went on then still stands.
However, some limits on the number of hours residents can work have been placed, due to obvious patient safety.
Much as I love certain things about this country, out-of-control capitalism is not one of them.
And the medical business, like all other industries in this countries, is a prime example of out-of-control capitalism.
Great reading. And a must for patients. Patients should be as informed as possible about the medical industry and its doctors: what they do, what they don't do, what they can and cannot do, what they know and tell us they know.
I always empathize with residents who are over-worked and over-tired, and wonder how many of them survive those years.
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 This book isn't only "set" in the 70's - it was written then!
My first career was working in a county hospital as an administrative coordinator for a Family Practice Residency program and as the Credentialing/Privileging coordinator for all of the staff physicians there. What an eye-opener this book was for a then 20-something young woman fresh out of business school. My actual experiences never reached the base level that is described in this book but we were a small facility located in the San Francisco East Bay Area in the 'burbs.
That being said, I think that there is a lot of humor, entertainment and enlightenment value to the book for interns/residents and attendings and the general public who should understand that doctors are human beings. They are not "God-like" and they become just as "irreverent" within their professions as Policemen, Teachers....er...Politicians do.
I have read and re-read this book at least twice and I consider myself a fan of doctors in general.
A fun read. Enjoy.
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fantastic
definitely, the best best best book i have ever read! amazing medical humor and sad truth about medicine - i was laughing loud and some tears escaped too :)
im reading this book again, again and again - i can quote any time any line. i adore this book, as im medic.student.
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