A Country Doctor's Notebook

I first came across Dr. Bulgakov (pre-having read "Master and Margerita") many years ago in a Paris bookstall. He seemed to me then, and on re-reading "A Country Doctor's Notebook" now", the best expression I have ever read of the life-transformation of a young doctor, particularly in unforgiving solo practice in isolated circumstance, whether it was the Russian forest of 1917, or, as it was for me, Nepal in the early 1960s. As Dr. B would say, "Sometimes you do the wrong thing, and nobody will ever know, and sometimes you do the right thing, and nobody will ever know." If you want to know how it really is, read this book. Laugh, cry, and ponder, and be amazed at the strange glory of medical practice. Also read his masterpiece, long buried by the Soviet censors, "The Master and Margerita"-- the Devil visits Moscow in the early 1920's, with his black cat Margerita. And for good measure, read "The White Guard" and "Head of a Dog. Bulgakov is a tragi-comic genius. docdoc

I gave this book to a young person 4 months out of medical school. She said it exactly described her own feelings of inadequacy, but in a funny way. She wanted it to be longer.Some things haven't changed in 100 years.

This is Bulgakov's own personal journey as a doctor recently graduated and sent to the countryside to practice. This is something that is still common in a number of developing countries and is used both to even up the social balance of city and country and also to provide medical care to those who otherwise would have to do without. Bulgakov is dispatched and displays all the idealism of a young doctor mixed with the pessimism's of a man who is being sent far from home and the comforts of the city to a place that may as well be a foreign country. Bulgakov in his usual quiet way exposes the ignorance of the common people and often the incompetence of his own skill. The stories he retells here are both moving and touching, peasants who when given medicine apply it to their outer clothing rather than the skin, a hospital staff who medical skill leaves a lot to be desired. Bulgakov is humorous as usual and while providing the reader with a book that judging by the cover may be slow and tedious is in fact fast paced, and will leave the reader laughing at times and in disbelief in others. A wonderful book that should be read.

The true stories of a 24 year old country doctor who finds himself thrust from the university to a rural Russian village in pre-Revolutionary 1916 Russia. And find himself he does, as he chronicles his growth as an independent physician and as a compassionate young man. One of his greatest fears upon arrival at his small country "hospital" is that he shall have to perform a difficult delivery of a baby. His fears eventually come true, and with the help of his two midwives and a helper roughly equivalent to today's physician assistant, the baby and mother survive and thrive, somewhat to his surprise. He returns to his study, opens his obstetrical manuals and is thrilled to find that the illustrations and words now make complete sense to him. These are remarkable stories told very, very well. Savor this book, there is none other like it.

These are the true stories of Mikhail Bulgakov, author of the Master and Margarita from the two years he spent as a medical intern in rural Russia. He vividly describes the loneliness and hardships of life in rural Russia, as well as resistence of the peasants to modern medical knowledge. He shows his inexperience, rudeness, and medical mistakes even more graphically, making one cringe for those under his knife or care. The best story, Morphine, recounts a descent into morphine addiction by the addict himself. This is emotional and moving, attributes that are missing from the tales Bulgakov tells himself. He seems to be fixated on his own suffering and his own value as a doctor and a human and doesn't show much sympathy for his patients or his fellow rural residents.