For those of you who have read the book The House of God:

[patch adams]

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What medical schools are they referencing? What is the BMS?


Just curious.

 

[....]

Stephen Bergman, MD: An undergraduate from Harvard College, Rhodes Scholar and Doctorate in physiology from Oxford, and an MD from Harvard Medical School, Dr. Bergman says he always wanted to be a writer. He ended up in medical school because he "wanted a meal ticket. He is the author of the underground medical classic, The House of God, and has spoken at over 50 medical school commencements

quoted

 

[patch adams]

That's funny because the author of my book is Samual Shem, M.D.

Are we talking about the same book?

Because it says that Dr. Shem also graduated from Harvard and was a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford.

 

[DAL]

Most people around here talk about Shem's House of God. I've never heard of the one Hightrump mentioned. I think Shem means BMS as Best Medical School, in reference to Harvard. I thought it was a great read.

 

[kendall]

shem is a pseudonym. bms "probably" refers to harvard. someone must have gone to ground from neuro height.

 

[DAL]

Originally posted by kendall
shem is a pseudonym.

Cool, I never knew that Shem was a pseudonym.

 

[carrigallen]

the mock acronyms are thinly disguised:

"Best Medical School" = BMS = HMS = Harvard

"Man's Best Hospital" = MBH = MGH= Mass General

Not at all sure what the actual "House of God" Hospital is supposed to be?...they make a reference to Mount Sinai for another hospital tho, i think.

 

[Mistress S]

Am I the only premed who didn't really like this book? I mean, it was okay, but I wasn't either particularly impressed or surprised by any of it. There were humorous parts, but I never really cared what happened to the main character and the ending was a bit trite. I think it's rather thinly disguised that "BMS" refers to Harvard, but I wouldn't exactly take the book to heart as a chilling expose of what medical training there is like. Maybe it was just built up too much before I read it.

 

[lyragrl]

I wasn't a huge fan of the book. Mostly, I think it's really dated. Yes, many things about medical training are the same, but I think a lot of things have improved. For instance, I think that many hospitals are now better about DNRs, avoiding unnecessary procedures, and end-of-life care than they were in the 1970s.

 

[SticknRudder]

Not to mention that the nurses are all hot in Shem's book.....

I think that part of the modern nursing curriculum is to fatten all the nursing student hotties up...... 🙁

Every time I pass the nursing college they're having a bake sale.....

 

[DrLady]

I started reading this book in december! I still haven't finished it, i am only halfway. I didn't like this book at all!!! I only read this book when i am desperate to read something! Also I had high expectations judging from the reviews which is why i wasn't too impressed, and I didn't really think it was that humorous.

I liked Intern Blues by Robert Marion better -- a much realistic view of the intern-year although the book was published in late 1980s. But then, there is his another book to follow Intern Blues -Rotations which was published in mid-1990s, I believe.

btw, I was a bit surprised to find the sex stuff pretty detailed

 

[DrWuStar]

i am reading the house of god now. i agree that it's pretty dated and that a lot of the sex stuff is pretty unbelievable. on whole, though, i'm really enjoying the book.

the house of god refers to the Harvard-affiliated Beth Israel Hospital in Boston.

 

[Angeliqua]

I *believe* the hospital where the book takes places is Beth Israel Deaconness Medical Center (or whatever it was called in the late 70s). Supposedly, that is where "Shem" did his residency. I was told this by a current resident in the area. BIDMC is a Harvard teaching hospital, so I guess it fits.

 

[bella_dottoressa]

I wasn't as crazy about this book as I thought I was going to be, but after I got halfway through things started to pick up.

 

[kendall]

i wonder if too many of us pre-meds are expecting too much out of this book. bergman admits that he exagerated a great deal (esp. about the sex stuff), and that much of it is outdated. the reason it is so often recommended to student doc's is that it is a GREAT intro to LIFE in a hospital, which is where we will all LIVE as residents. the medical lingo in House of God is still widely used today. if you've never worked in a hospital, how else are you gonna know what the hell FUBAR, GOMER, turf, bounce, and sieve mean. and trust me, DNR f*ck ups still happen ALL THE TIME. unnecessary procedures are performed daily, and end of life care is still sometimes a total fiasco. of course medical care has improved, but take heed to Shem's words b/c hospitals are crazy crazy places. personally, i thought the book was hilarious. i was working in a hospital at the time, though, so that may have had something to so with it.
for those of you who haven't read it and those who have started, don't like it, and don't want to finish, i recommend checking out this web page:
http://www.shartwell.freeserve.co.uk/humor-site/medical-acronyms.htm

 

[....]

It made me horny. he does a great job describing the "who-ha"
Yes i made that word up.......

"Her painties full...like a sail pulled taught and full by the breath of life"

(paraphrased)

I thought it was Mt.Siani, someone posted a link to an article he wrote for some medical journal about the book and i though thats what it said.

Gomers go to ground.
LOLs in NAD
the Fat Mans anal mirror.
haha

 

[....]

Holy crap that link is funny!

Acute lead poisoning-gunshot wound.

Angel lust - a male corpse with an erection (not uncommon)

Bobbing for apples - unblocking a badly constipated patient with one's finger
Brothel Sprouts - Genital warts

Bungee jumper - a patient who pulls on his catheter tube
haha


Celestial discharge - died


Ceiling Sign - near-levitation from the bed to the ceiling induced by examining for abdominal tenderness

Coffin Dodger - survived against expectations, or a very old person

Donorcycle - motorbike: the biggest cause of donated organs!

Double Whopper with Cheese - Obese female with genital thrush

FTF - Failed to Fly (botched suicide)

Gone Camping - patient in oxygen tent

Hamburger (Helper) - Train or juggernaut vs pedestrian

LMC - Low marble count (low IQ)
hehe

 

[indo]

Originally posted by Mistress S
Am I the only premed who didn't really like this book? I mean, it was okay, but I wasn't either particularly impressed or surprised by any of it. There were humorous parts, but I never really cared what happened to the main character and the ending was a bit trite. I think it's rather thinly disguised that "BMS" refers to Harvard, but I wouldn't exactly take the book to heart as a chilling expose of what medical training there is like. Maybe it was just built up too much before I read it.

I thought it was boring and the author was neurotic. I wouldn't call it a "must read" for anyone going into medicine and I wouldn't advise suicidal people to read it.

 

[Jaded Soul]

The book will be much more relevent when you get to clinical training. So much of the culture is still applicable even today. One of my attendings told me that this book is best read 3 times: first as a M3-4, then after internship, and finally near the end of residency.

 

[edfig99]

Originally posted by Jaded Soul
The book will be much more relevent when you get to clinical training. So much of the culture is still applicable even today. One of my attendings told me that this book is best read 3 times: first as a M3-4, then after internship, and finally near the end of residency.

i agree a hundred percent....and that's actually how i did it. is it realistic ? no. funny? at times. the rules of the house of god, however, are universal and are true across time -- gomers do go to ground....patient's are the ones with the disease.... at a code, take your own pulse.... all of them are true. for a while i had them memorized and would teach my interns much like the fat man did....

 

[Hindiana_Jones]

edfig99, is there really such a thing as a gomer? I know the book is a satire, so my question is how far fetched is the portrayal of a gomer? So gomers always go to ground, got any stories about this? They are just old people right? Do your really do nothing to deliver the best medical care? As for the book, its not an amazingly well written piece of literature. There are some good peice, like when Sanders dies or how "Shem" describes the Leggo's white coat as "butcher lengthed". I'm almost done reading it, and I picked it up because some many people have said its mandatory reading. One thing botheres me : Roy drives drunk to go to work twice.Ugh.

 

[Pinkertinkle]

Hey what's the house of god really represent, Beth Israel?

 

[Hindiana_Jones]

Your right. MBH=Mass General. MBH=HMS. It was in another post about HoG. I just wanted a resident's opinon about the accuracy of the book.