The Pact

[EMPOWERurSELF!]

This might be a bit off topic, but I just wanted to tell all of you pre-meds and med students out there about a new book I heard about on TV yesterday. I really want to read it to give myself a better perspective about URMs and the admissions process and maybe make me re-think my position on AA. Its called The Pact and was written by 3 guys who grew up together in the projects (I forget which city it was) who made a pact when they were teens to stay off the streets and become doctors. It really caught my attention because one of the authors was arrested for attempted murder (!) and another for theft (I think) and they all still were able to turn their lives around with each others support. If anyone else is planning to read or has read it please share!!!

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[BamaFlip]

These 3 guys were on Oprah. It's a cool story.

 

[cocoabutter]

I read it...its a good book. Definitely pick it up for some insight. I don't see how it will affect your views on AA. I didn't even think about it while I was reading it. But to each his own.

 

[lotanna]

Great books, nice guys met them last yr.
It has nothing to do with AA please or URMs and admissions, that wasnt the purpose of their book.Rather it shows determination, resilience, and how people are able to go against all odds.

 

[EMPOWERurSELF!]

sorry about the AA reference in the original post, I should have explained myself. A friend of mine who also saw them on Oprah said that the issue about how it related to the book and the 3 friends was brought up, so I assumed that the book kind of had a "pro-AA" theme to it. I stand corrected --and will read the book before I post anything else about the UMR/AA issue!!!

 

[tBw]

well, to be fair, some of the amazon.com reviews of this book refer to AA so presumably someone thought it was relevant (though to be honest, the particular review that mentioned AA I thought was a little...weird). Thanks for the recommendation though, it sounds like a book worth reading regardless of whether or what it says about AA.

 

[badgergirl]

I read this book a while ago. I can't remember the particulars, but the guys were from NJ, and went through a program designed to help minority students get into/through medical school. I believe they all went to UMDNJ, although one became a dentist. It's a good, quick read, and it definitely illuminates some of the hardships they faced along their path, not all of which were related to being URMs. One of them failed the boards the first time, and his friends helped him get back on track and pass them. I'd definitely recommend it.

 

[Zweihander]

Even further off topic, but if you guys find this interesting, their is also another book (which I have read) called Manchild in the Promised Land. This was a poor black guy who grew up I believe in the 50's in New York and spent much of his childhood involved in drug-dealing and gangs, and a lot of other really nasty stuff.

Eventually, he turned his life around and ended up going to Columbia Law. It's a pretty amazing story...

 

[Paws]

What about "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" about a young white girl who grows up in terrible poverty and deprivation (alcoholic father) and who goes on to become a writer and all around ok person.

Hard times and struggles are not exclusive to the color of ones skin - we all share difficulties and burdens even if we can't see them immediately.