What Patients Taught Me: A Medical Student's Journey

Audrey Young reminds us in this interesting and honest narrative how powerfully a good doctor yearns to help, trains for that purpose, and how hard it is not to be able to fix everything all the time. It is clear that she cares about her patients and that textbook procedures are sometimes not enough--which makes this an account of the best in medical practice. This is an encouraging book, for those who have developed medicophobia, and it's also a really good read.

A medical resident recently informed me that her medical training had `robbed' her of the best years of her life. Her comment was not too perplexing at the surface, but I can't help to contrast it with the great awareness of humanity I find in Dr. Young's book. One captivating anecdote after another, Dr. Young's writing recreates for us some of the sacred vantage points on life she has received by way of approaching her patients with real humanism. The book also stands out among other medical training biographies because Dr. Young's experiences occurred in such special rural places. I loved it! There is something in here for everyone.

Dr. Young provides some wonderful insights into the long process that produces new physicians. She engagingly relates her experiences as she was first learning her role in the doctor-patient relationship. I could hardly put it down! A wonderful book.

Dr. Young's book is a beautiful description of the process medical students go through to become a doctor. The stories of life and, frequently, death and dying linger and pop in to one's mind throughout the day....making you appreciate each moment. A fantastic book.

I am a general internist and public health physician by training and work in a busy county hospital emergency department. Dr. Young's book is one of the most striking and insightful accounts of physician training I have read. Refreshing in its originality, unique in its perspective, it delivers much more than one woman's journey - Dr. Young teaches us, patients and physicians alike, the essentials of doctoring the way no training program can. Riveting, wrenching, and warming, these are stories that resonate with each of us at some time in our lives. I must give this a whole-hearted endorsement. Kudos to Dr. Young.