The Making of a Surgeon is the memoir of an apprentice. It is William Nolen's story of his transformation from student to practitioner, from a brash medical school graduate to a surgeon possessing skill and judgment. And, as in the best memoirs, in the brilliant flash of his self-discovery, William Nolen illuminates the world outside himself.
Segregation was a way of life in the 1960s, especially in the South when O. Gordon Robinson Jr. was completing his surgical residency at the University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson. The Ku Klux Klan was a force to be reckoned with at the time, and Robinson chronicles the events he witnessed as well as the civil rights movement of the time against the backdrop of completing his medical education. His main focus is on the daily lives and work of the residents, including the innovative organ-transplant research led by Dr. James Hardy. One of Robinson’s initial assignments was to transplant a kidney from one dog to another, and from the recipient dog, one of his kidneys to the first dog. The helpers anesthetized the animals, prepped and draped them, and started IV fluids if necessary. Dr. Hardy was a real pioneer in the field of transplantation, and as time went on, it became obvious that he and his crew were preparing to do heart and lung transplants on humans—something that had never been done before. Whether you’re interested in life during the civil rights movement, medical education or both, you’ll enjoy The Making of a Surgeon.
This is a true story about a doctor who, as a young man, developed a fierce independence. His goals became not only to become the best doctor he could be but to be his own boss. It's also the story of a healthcare system that became hostile to that independence, such that to continue as an independent doctor became riskier over time. This is my story. I'm that doctor who, at times, had to risk it all just to be my own boss.
The early decades of the eighteenth century saw the appearance of a completely new type of surgical practitioner in France: the dentiste. The use of this title was of the utmost significance, indicating not just the making of a new practitioner but of an entirely new practice - the dentiste was, quite literally, making a name for himself. Appearing on the back of dramatic changes within surgery in general, the practice of the dentiste, although it focused only on the teeth, was nevertheless extensive. In addition to extractions, there was also a wide-ranging field of operations on offer, the performance of which had only been hinted at by the surgeon of the seventeenth century. This new sphere of practice represented a radical departure from what had gone before and, as this book reveals, it was all built solidly on sound surgical foundations, with the dentiste occupying a respected position within society in general and the medical world in particular. This book places the making of the dentiste within social, political and technical contexts, and in so doing re-contextualises the purely progressive stories told in conventional histories of dentistry. In doing so, it brings surgery back to its central role in this story, and reveals for the first time the origins of the dentise in the French surgical profession.
As an active surgeon and former department chairman, Dr. Paul A. Ruggieri has seen the good, the bad, and the ugly of his profession. In Confessions of a Surgeon, he pushes open the doors of the O.R. and reveals the inscrutable place where lives are improved, saved, and sometimes lost. He shares the successes, failures, remarkable advances, and camaraderie that make it exciting. He uncovers the truth about the abusive, exhaustive training and the arduous devotion of his old-school education. He explores the twenty-four-hour challenges that come from patients and their loved ones; the ethics of saving the lives of repugnant criminals; the hot-button issues of healthcare, lawsuits, and reimbursements; and the true cost of running a private practice. And he explains the influence of the "white coat code of silence" and why patients may never know what really transpires during surgery. Ultimately, Dr. Ruggieri lays bare an occupation that to most is as mysterious and unfamiliar as it is misunderstood. His account is passionate, illuminating, and often shocking-an eye-opening, never- before-seen look at real life, and death, in the O.R.
Careening Through an Eclectic Life: A Surgeon’s Tale By: Jerry M. Shuck, M.D., D.Sc Careening Through an Eclectic Life: A Surgeon’s Tale is a collection of stories from author Jerry M. Shuck’s life. He was inspired by two high school friends and teammates from Cincinnati to write a book after hearing his telling of some of these stories. The events depicted in this autobiography include Shuck’s time in professional baseball, his experiences as an army surgeon, and many moments from his fifty-year surgical career. Follow along and enjoy the read as the author describes his most amusing and meaningful memories.
Richard Selzer selects from his own classic essays, culled from three decades of writing. Published along with his favorites are five new essays, including "Phantom Vision" and "Braindeath," and an introduction detailing the making of this virtuoso doctor/writer. Compassionate, moving and perversely funny, Richard Selzer's essays intimately connect us with profound questions of life and death.
Nineteen sixty nine to nineteen ninety three: what a time of change, development and innovation in Medicine. Often not appreciated are the many advances coming directly or indirectly from the University of Minnesota Medical School, the main setting for Teaching Surgeons Hands to Heal by Dr Elwin Fraley MD. Dr Christiaan Barnard had recently performed the first human heart transplant in South Africa, yet the basis for this magnificent achievement was the training and experience he had in Minnesota, under the great open-heart surgery pioneer Dr Walt Lillehei. This was the background that the young, relatively inexperienced Dr Fraley had, when given the opportunity to develop a world class Department of Urologic Surgery in 1969. With his intense personal belief as a Builder of People Dr Fraley accepted the challenge with drive, determination and his own inimitable energy and wit overcoming numerous difficulties along the way. Set in an academic research and training hospital the chronicle details not only the development of the training program, but rather how it produced so many luminaries in the field, who then followed his tradition of building leaders and innovators. This book highlights the importance of academic centers to the future of American and world medicine, as well as mankind in general. Indeed, under Dr Fraley, there was a paradigm shift from enormous painful surgical incisions to key-hole surgery, the field of Endourology (a term coined by Dr Fraley). Thus Endourology is now an integral part of virtually all major urological meetings around the world.
