Emergency Doctor

Ziegler writes about the day-to-day travails of the ER staff at one of the nation's oldest hospitals, Bellevue. The book starts off with a wild case: an overturned crane has trapped a woman and paramedics and doctors rush to save her before amputation becomes an option. Some chapters are devoted to the doctors' personal lives, but the real action only takes place in the hospital. Given that the book was published in 1987, medicine has advanced to the point where this book could be considered a historical narrative, but it's still entertaining.

I like medical novels and found this one a really good read. Good beach book.

A very enjoyable, quick read. What struck me the most about this book was the differences in perspective since the time of it's writing (1987)--it mentions patients that complain about doctors wearing gloves when that is now standard, and expected, procedure. It describes the infancy of managed care and all it's depersonalization of those it's supposed to protect and care for. And most of all, it describes doctors, nurses, and other hospital staff who always put the patient first, who see their jobs as noble and go about it completely humble and without ego. Perhaps exposure to such tv shows as ER and Chicago Hope in more recent years have given laymen a more cold/cynical view of things, but some times the professionals in this book seem almost too good to be true. On the other hand, the emergencies described are fascinating and compelling.