Doctor Confidential by Richard Sheff, MD Review

Synopsis

Doctor Confidential tells the autobiographical story of Dr. Rick Sheff’s training as a family physician in medical school and residency. Told in the genre of a hero’s journey beginning with his first, tentative cut into a cadaver, the reader is drawn in by the author’s compelling story telling, quickly coming to care deeply both about Dr. Sheff and each patient he encounters.
Yet this book is so much more than a memoir of medical training. Written more than 25 years after the events it describes with the wisdom and insight of a nationally recognized leader of American medicine, each story is carefully crafted to teach profound lessons about the journey of doctor and patient together as they discover that the deepest healing, the healing we all seek, is ultimately an act of love. Dr. Sheff’s poignant insights go beyond medicine to teach us lessons in living well. In the end, readers feel that they themselves have been healed, have had their hearts touched, through the gift of this extraordinary literary work.
source: http://www.ricksheffmd.com/

My Thoughts:
I was a bit apprehensive when I agreed to read and review Doctor Confidential: Secrets Behind The Veil. I hoped it was not written like a text book as some of these nonfiction memoirs tend to be. I was pleasantly surprised and once I started reading this book I was hooked. The story takes us from the time of Dr.Sheff's gross anatomy class in medical school to his senior residency. Dr.Sheff shares with the reader all the experiences in training, observing and treating patients. This book reads very much like a novel and takes the reader through years of no sleep, caffeine ladden days and nights, some not very nice physicians and patients. Dr.Sheff was able to find his niche as to what kind of specialty he wanted to pursue after med school after interning in areas such as psychiatry, obstetrics and gynecology. I have always loved reading books that had anything to do with the medical field, mostly fiction though but I definitely enjoyed this book. This would be a great book for anyone who is in medical school and even the layperson who is interested in the education and training of a physician.
Dr.Sheff, I feel, is a passionate, understanding and caring physician who is the model for this quote from Hippocrates;
"Wherever the art of medicine is loved, there is also a love of humanity"
Thanks to Rebecca from Cadence Marketing Group for sending me a free copy of this book. I was not monetarily compensated for my review.