Editorial Review:

On Call begins with a newly-minted doctor checking in for her first day of residency--wearing the long white coat of an MD and being called "Doctor" for the first time. Having studied at Yale and Dartmouth, Dr. Emily Transue arrives in Seattle to start her internship in Internal Medicine just after graduating from medical school. This series of loosely interconnected scenes from the author's medical training concludes her residency three years later.
During her first week as a student on the medical wards, Dr. Transue watched someone come into the emergency room in cardiac arrest and die. Nothing like this had ever happened to her before-it was a long way from books and labs. So she began to record her experiences as she gained confidence putting her book knowledge to work.
The stories focus on the patients Dr. Transue encountered in the hospital, ER and clinic; some are funny and others tragic. They range in scope from brief interactions in the clinic to prolonged relationships during hospitalization. There is a man newly diagnosed with lung cancer who is lyrical about his life on a sunny island far away, and a woman, just released from a breathing machine after nearly dying, who sits up and demands a cup of coffee.
Though the book has a great deal of medical content, the focus is more on the stories of the patients' lives and illnesses and the relationships that developed between the patients and the author, and the way both parties grew in the course of these experiences.
Along the way, the book describes the life of a resident physician and reflects on the way the medical system treats both its patients and doctors. On Call provides a window into the experience of patients at critical junctures in life and into the author's own experience as a new member of the medical profession.

Customer Reviews:

Avg. Customer Rating: 4.5 / 5.0

Fantastic!:

This book was a fairly easy read, I almost wish it was longer. The write made it easy for those of us without a medical background to follow along. A great insight into what it takes to become a Dr. I have more respect for Dr's after reading this novel.

Honest encounter of residency years:

It's a honest encounter of residency years of a Internal Medicine Physician. It's mostly like a diary of her years in residency.

Very good!:

AS a doctor I can see myself in her story and experience... Difficult to cope with other people sufferings and wonderful when you can help it...

A great snapshot of the terrors and trials of residency:

Dr.Transue does a great job of infusing her story with accuracy and gory details, but still keeps a very human approach and doesn't lose sight of her patients as people. This book is so interesting for anyone (and most of us hopefully have)who has been on either side of medical care to see both sides. It is a great book to help patients realize how human their doctors truly are and the enormous amount of stress their caretakers are under,and yet they still manage to have patience and grace under fire.

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