A Doctor's Life: Unique Stories

In A Doctor's Life: Unique Stories, Dr. William Close draws upon his many years of practice to present the reader with invaluable insights into compassionate care giving in today's high-tech world of medicine. A medical memoir sharing cameos drawn from fifty years as a practicing physician and surgeon in New York's "Hell's Kitchen", sixteen years in Africa's brutal and chaotic Congo, and as a country doctor in rural Wyoming, these vignettes and observations include a broad spectrum of patients and notable characters ranging from African leaders to oil field roustabouts, casualties of civil war in the Congo to older people in rural Wyoming reaching the end of their lives at home. A Doctor's Life is highly recommended reading as both an autobiography and as a persuasive testament that compassion and courtesy are as important as scientific excellent when working for the benefit of patients and the advancement of the medical profession.

An elephant in the maternity ward? A carpenter's brace and bit to drill a hole in the cranium? The "Urine Man" at the Presbyterian Home for Women? Oh, and much more! Here is the story of a doctor who, using the most primitive of equipment, performed a host of procedures in this African outback so far removed from high tech medicine as most of us know it today. From the often violent, always political machinations of civil authorities in the African Congo to the quiet complacency of a small Wyoming community . . . from the hectic internship in New York to the broad expanse of the western plains . . . it's all there. A Doctor's Life is the embodiment of the tragic, the hilarious, the truly compassionate. This is a trilogy in one book: New York, Africa, Wyoming -- an exciting, wonderfully human account of Dr. William Close and his keen insight into, not just the world of medicine, but the human condition -- witty, inspiring and stunningly true to life.

If you aspire to be a physician--not just any physician, but a good one--these memoirs should be required reading. I first read these stories in manuscript form as a medical student, and they became the template for my professional life. As Doc told me in my last year of medical school: "Let med school teach you the science of medicine; I'll show you the art." And he did, through his life and through these very stories. For as physicians, we are trained to guard our professional boundaries, to not get involved in the lives of patients, and to equate curing with healing. Dr. Close's encounters, chronicled in this very readable first-person account, prove that's not always the best medicine. In "Tata Felix," he exposes with candor, warmth, and humility the foibles of his own humanity and demonstrates how powerful (and often overlooked)a simple act de presence can be. In his Wyoming anecdotes, he convincingly shows that while knowledge without compassion may cure, it doesn't always heal. The stories are well-written, the real-life characters vivid in your mind's eye, and you feel like you are there with him in Africa and in Big Piney. Most of the stories leave you with the distinct impression that here was one of those sublime moments in life when you learned something profound about what it really means to be a doctor. This book is, in essence, an impassioned plea to physicians everywhere to not assume the mantle of medicine lightly nor haughtily, but to wear it in humility and reverence, even perhaps with awe, remembering that they are called not to be served, but to serve.

"A Doctor's Life; Unique Stories" is a gripping, funny and touching real life depiction of the odyssey of Dr. William T. Close, with a description of his career as a surgeon and physician in New York, Africa and a small Wyoming town called Big Piney. His experiences speak humbly of an individual who is a humanitarian and a practical idealist, who exhibits a deep commitment to his fellow human beings, regardless of their circumstance.But there's more! This book goes well beyond a collection of stories about a remarkable man's life. The messages illustrated in the descriptions of the patients Dr. Close encounters refocus attention on the human side of medicine. Dr. Close effectively reminds individuals working in the medical field that it is the patient whose health crisis brings the medical team together with the multiple goals of understanding the pathophysiology of disease, the delivery of optimal expert treatment and compassionate care. The patient, Dr. Close teaches us, is more than a disease, more than `a case to be plugged into a treatment protocol'. This respect for human life is evident in the stories of his practice of rural medicine in Big Piney, Wyoming. Dr. Close describes spending the time necessary for good care and seeing many patients in their homes, especially at the end of their lives. The messages in this book will inspire many who practice nursing and medicine to approach the care of their patients with expertise and compassion, for the sake of the patient, and for the optimum experience as a healer. Potential patients will yearn for the kind of patient/doctor relationship that Dr. Close's patients enjoy. "A Doctor's Life; Unique Stories" is a celebration of an approach to life and fellow humans that is dedicated, passionate and honorable. Everyone who reads this book will be inspired and entertained.

I'm not really the medical crisis type person, but this story attracted me because recently, I personally have had to communicate with doctors. It seems that this author, this doctor, actually listened to his patients with sensitivity and caring, whether they were in New York or Africa, and now in Wyoming. You are reminded that going to a doctor, or clinic was like this once. The individual stories are very touching, especially the little boy in Africa who makes friends with a chimpanzee. The book is easy to read in spite of the ailment descriptions. For those of us now embarking on the middle years this memoir should give us a little hope and insight regarding better care and dignity. My parents have already read it and I will definitely lend title this to my friends.