A scorchingly frank look at how doctors are made, bringing readers into the critical care unit to see one burgeoning physician's journey from ineptitude to competence. In medical school, Matt McCarthy dreamed of being a different kind of doctor—the sort of mythical, unflappable physician who could reach unreachable patients. But when a new admission to the critical care unit almost died his first night on call, he found himself scrambling. Visions of mastery quickly gave way to hopes of simply surviving hospital life, where confidence was hard to come by and no amount of med school training could dispel the terror of facing actual patients. This funny, candid memoir of McCarthy’s intern year at a New York hospital provides a scorchingly frank look at how doctors are made, taking readers into patients’ rooms and doctors’ conferences to witness a physician's journey from ineptitude to competence. McCarthy's one stroke of luck paired him with a brilliant second-year adviser he called “Baio” (owing to his resemblance to the Charles in Charge star), who proved to be a remarkable teacher with a wicked sense of humor. McCarthy would learn even more from the people he cared for, including a man named Benny, who was living in the hospital for months at a time awaiting a heart transplant. But no teacher could help McCarthy when an accident put his own health at risk, and showed him all too painfully the thin line between doctor and patient. The Real Doctor Will See You Shortly offers a window on to hospital life that dispenses with sanctimony and self-seriousness while emphasizing the black-comic paradox of becoming a doctor: How do you learn to save lives in a job where there is no practice?

As a newly graduated doctor of veterinary medicine prepared to greet his first clients, hear their troubles, patch and heal their pets, and get paid to do it, he had no idea of the adventures and misadventures that were awaiting him. His first patient-client was an elderly German immigrant who mistakenly believed a vet could treat his scabies. In a collection of true stories, Dr. Bill Wellman shares entertaining insight into life as a new country vet in post-war Michigan as he dealt with one animal medical challenge after the other. From a cat in heat to a cow with a twisted uterus, from dead pigs after castration to a mare with a dead unborn foal, and from a bee-man with an ancient clock to bee stings, Dr. Wellman leads others through the highs and lows of veterinary medicine as he built a practice, listened rather than talked, and learned that farmers would not only told him what the problem was, but also how to treat it. You Could Have Been a Real Doctor is the fascinating memoir of a veterinarian practicing in rural Michigan as he learned the ins and outs of being a doctor to animals.

An orphan leaves Dark Ages London to study medicine in Persia in this “rich” and “vivid” historical novel from a New York Times–bestselling author (The New York Times). A child holds the hand of his dying mother and is terrified, aware something is taking her. Orphaned and given to an itinerant barber-surgeon, Rob Cole becomes a fast-talking swindler, peddling a worthless medicine. But as he matures, his strange gift—an acute sensitivity to impending death—never leaves him, and he yearns to become a healer. Arab madrassas are the only authentic medical schools, and he makes his perilous way to Persia. Christians are barred from Muslim schools, but claiming he is a Jew, he studies under the world’s most renowned physician, Avicenna. How the woman who is his great love struggles against her only rival—medicine—makes a riveting modern classic. The Physician is the first book in New York Times–bestselling author Noah Gordon’s Dr. Robert Cole trilogy, which continues with Shaman and concludes with Matters of Choice.

“Humorous, poignant, provocative and educational,” this essay collection by a doctor “offer[s] fresh takes on the ever-changing field of medicine.” (Kirkus Reviews) Doctor and medical columnist John Launer has written on the practice and teaching of medicine for many years. How Not to be a Doctor includes over fifty of his essays covering a range of topics including music, poetry, literature, and psychoanalysis, as well as contemporary medical politics and the personal experiences of being a doctor. Taken together, they set out an argument that being a doctor—a real doctor—should mean being able to draw on every aspect of yourself, your interests, and your experiences, however remote these may seem from the medical task of the moment. From lessons on what they don't teach you in medical school to the author's poignant account of being a patient himself as he received treatment for a life-threatening illness, the essays in How Not to Be a Doctor combine erudition with humor, candor, and the human touch that will inform and entertain readers on both ends of the stethoscope. “Witty and wise. Shows how important it is that doctors are allowed to be human.” —Kit Wharton, author of Emergency Admissions: Memoirs of an Ambulance Driver

A Publisher's Weekly Best Book of 2018 A straightforward appraisal of why health myths exist, dispelling many of them, and teaching readers how to navigate the labyrinth of health advice and the science and misinformation behind it. Hype is Dr. Nina Shapiro's engaging and informative look at the real science behind our most common beliefs and assumptions in the health sphere. There is a lot of misinformation thrown around these days, especially online. Headlines tell us to do this, not that—all in the name of living longer, better, thinner, younger. Dr. Shapiro wants to distinguish between the falsehoods and the evidence-backed truth. In her work at Harvard and UCLA, with more than twenty years of experience in both clinical and academic medicine, she helps patients make important health decisions every day. She's bringing those lessons to life here with a blend of personal storytelling and science to discuss her dramatic new definition of “a healthy life.” Hype covers everything from exercise to supplements, alternative medicine to vaccines, and medical testing to media coverage. Shapiro tackles popular misconceptions such as toxic sugar and the importance of drinking eight glasses of water a day. She provides simple solutions anyone can implement, such as drinking 2% milk instead of fat free and using SPF 30 sunscreen instead of SPF 100. This book is as much for single individuals in the prime of their lives as it is for parents with young children and the elderly. Never has there been a greater need for this reassuring, and scientifically backed reality check.

As a child of the sixties, growing up in the New Jersey suburbs, he delivered kittens, rehabilitated wildlife, and inherited his mother's love for animals; there he found the spark to pursue a career as a veterinarian. However, first, he had to overcome an unsupportive father, a belittling academic advisor, three colleges, and financial hardship. In vet school, he struggled as a mediocre student, aggravated the assistant dean, challenged a combatant intern, punched out a fellow student, while avoiding the wrath of the chief of surgery. Then the naïve Jersey boy worked his first year as a farm animal vet wrestling a pregnant sow, dodging a one-ton Brahma bull, splitting open a rotting cow on a sunbaked Missouri field, and bluffing his way from one farm call to the next. A year later he returned to New Jersey where life really got tough.Here are real stories of a career veterinarian. Hilarious tales, like the house call to the home of a cantankerous old preacher and a box spring full of feral cats. Heart-wrenching scenes, like the euthanasia of a puppy cradled in the arms of a chronically ill boy. The bizarre story of the old women who believed her black Labrador contained the reincarnated soul of her dead mother and was convinced Molly, a.k.a. Mom was pregnant. Thought-provoking drama, like the senior citizen who ended his dog's suffering with a plastic bag attached to the exhaust pipe of his old pick-up truck. Stories of success; the last chance, surgery which saved a dog's life, and stories of failure; a surgical mishap which leads to the death of a German Shepherd Dog.What is it like to be a veterinarian? It's not just about loving animals. It is having sympathy for the animal while having empathy for the owner. It's convincing a pet owner their dog's surgery is more valuable than their next vacation. It's telling a stranger it is time to euthanize the family pet. It's putting your own dog to sleep in front of your children. It's performing a difficult surgery-alone. It's explaining to a distraught client why their pet died during a routine surgical procedure. It's negotiating the cost of a life-saving treatment while struggling to support a family. It's the revelation that veterinary medicine has become a discretionary afterthought for disposable pets. It's the realization that the small-town practice is selling out to greedy corporate America.In three decades of practice, ungrateful clients, angry pet owners, and viscous patients tested his faith. In his own hospital, insubordinate employees, deranged associates, frivolous lawsuits, hurricane Sandy, a nationwide recession, merciless bankers, and a rapidly changing profession, threatened his dream. Of course, he enjoyed every minute of it, or did he?This book will appeal to readers of James Herriot and Dr. Robert Miller, and these colorful stories will attract viewers of current veterinary and pet care reality shows. It will appeal to veterinarians, veterinary para-professionals, vet students, and millions of pet owners who wonder what it is like to be a vet. This book is Marley and Me, meets Patch Adams.This uniquely candid retrospective reveals the truth behind a largely misunderstood profession defined by fluffy reality shows and fanciful stories. Most books ask, "Who wants to be a veterinarian"? ALMOST A REAL DOCTOR asks, "Are you sure you want to be a veterinarian?"

America takes 75% of the worlds medications and seven out of ten people die of chronic and preventable diseases. The health care system meant to remedy this problem is now the third leading cause of death itself. This exists because we often ignore our health or assume we are healthy until disease hits. Then once disease hits we manage the sickness with drugs and surgeries. That's not health care, that's sick care. This book is the guide to experience real health. If you manage sickness and disease you get sickness and disease, if you build health you get health.