Out of curiosity, have any of the attendings, residents, or medical students here read The Making of a Surgeon by Dr. William Nolen? Or even heard of it/him?
Back when I was in medical school, when Hippocrates was the IM Chief Resident, that was the "must read" book for medical students. Nolen was also the public face of medicine in the U.S. in the 70's, with a daily newspaper column and appearances on the Tonight Show, up until his untimely death c. 1985. Sort of like a competent Dr. Oz.
The book describes his residency training as a surgeon at Bellevue in the early 50's. Less well known is a second book, A Surgeon's World that describes his first few years in private practice. If you can find a copy, both are worth a read. The former for a world where a routine inguinal hernia repair would be kept inpatient for 14 days, and a surgery resident three days into his second year would be on-call on a pathology rotation and be the entire Bellevue pathology department overnight. The latter because you will suddenly realize why things like "credentials committee" and the Stark Act were necessary.
Back when I was in medical school, when Hippocrates was the IM Chief Resident, that was the "must read" book for medical students. Nolen was also the public face of medicine in the U.S. in the 70's, with a daily newspaper column and appearances on the Tonight Show, up until his untimely death c. 1985. Sort of like a competent Dr. Oz.
The book describes his residency training as a surgeon at Bellevue in the early 50's. Less well known is a second book, A Surgeon's World that describes his first few years in private practice. If you can find a copy, both are worth a read. The former for a world where a routine inguinal hernia repair would be kept inpatient for 14 days, and a surgery resident three days into his second year would be on-call on a pathology rotation and be the entire Bellevue pathology department overnight. The latter because you will suddenly realize why things like "credentials committee" and the Stark Act were necessary.
