The Making of a Surgeon in the 21st Century Review
For the most part, I really enjoyed this book. It's well written and is an interesting account of the author's experiences in his training to become a surgeon. I've read a lot of these kinds of books and while most doctors have good stories to tell, not all of them are particularly good writers. I would say that Dr. Miller is a pretty decent writer. The text flows easily and his stories are entertaining.
What I don't like is his attitutde toward nurses. On more than one occassion, he calls them "bitches." He apparently had some negative encounters with nurses and therefore seems to group them all into this category. In discussing pediatric nurses, he mentions how nurses believe they need to be patient advocates which he disagrees with. He actually says that they should not be advocates but rather simply caregivers. In other words, just shut up and do what the doctors tell you. He apparently doesn't like nurses descibing themselves as patient advocates because this because it implies that the patients have something they need to be protected from (i.e. the doctors) which he seems to take offense to. I personally feel that nurses should be advocates in addition to caregivers and that sometimes patients do need protection, someone who is looking out for their best needs.
Granted, what I have just said may not accurately describe his true feelings about nurses in general, but it is the impression that he gives in the book. Other then that, it's a great read for anyone in the medical field or a layperson (like myself) who just enjoys reading these kinds of books.
The Making of a Surgeon in the 21st Century Overview
The Making of a Surgeon in the 21st Century is a highly personalized description of one individual's experiences during a five-year residency in general surgery at a major university hospital. It describes the personal challenges and rewards, the drama of triumph and tragedy, the agony of indecision and the thrill of success. Residency is the most profoundly life-altering sequence of events in a surgeon's life. What does it take to make a surgeon? It takes a college degree and a medical school education, followed by a residency. And it takes a willingness to subordinate one's personal life to acquiring the skills and knowledge which a surgeon must possess. This sacrifice takes its toll - on families, on mental health, on life-style. A surgical trainee may not get out on his own until well in his thirties - living, in the meantime, a meager existence at best. Post-graduate training in surgery is longer than that of any other medical specialty, five years at least. Tortuous on-call schedules often demand exceedingly long work hours - 100-hour work weeks being the norm. Compounding the problem are very high stress levels, the burdens shouldered by the resident's family in his frequent absence and often an enormous educational debt. Nevertheless, every year hundreds of fresh medical school graduates compete for the few available positions. They are consistently the very best of their classes. Why would otherwise intelligent, highly motivated individuals actively seek such a miserable existence? Surgeons have, of course, been glorified in the mass media as the swaggering, brilliant, fiercely independent cowboys of the medical profession. Their compensation has also been great. But beyond this is a personal quality best defined as decisiveness. They want to make the difference, in no uncertain terms. In surgery, when the patient enters the operating room he is suffering from disease. Thanks to the surgeon, he may be wheeled out cured. It doesn't happen every time, of course, but the possibility is there (in other disciplines of medicine "cure" is, unfortunately, an unusual event). Who wouldn't want to be such a healer, making a palpable, tangible difference? Endorsements "Honest, hard-hitting and tremendously entertaining ... an unvarnished look at surgery residency." Louis M. Messina, M.D., Professor of Surgery, University of California, San Francisco "Terrific stories ... we [surgeons] live through this every day but it hardly ever comes out like this ... [Dr. Miller] got it right." Phillip Caushaj, M.D., Chief of Surgery, The Western Pennsylvania Hospital
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Customer Reviews
Entertaining and Educational - Cindy - Cornfields of Indiana
As a layperson, I was hesitant to read this book. I was expecting a medical treatise that was about as interesting as watching a tree grow. I was wrong. Dr. Miller captured my attention on page one and I was truly disappointed to reach the end of the book. He explained medical terms and procedures at a level any layperson could understand. The grueling hours of a surgical residency and toll it takes on personal lives left me with a greater appreciation of what it takes to be a surgeon. The anecdotal details of the residency made me laugh and brought tears to my eyes. I would highly recommend this book to any genre of reader.
ok read author soundy whiny---I worked with him at OSU. - bigbadross - oh
The book was written well but sounds whiny and childish as if the author was the only resident who ever had a difficult time at OSU or any residency program. Difficult programs make for the best surgeons. Do you really want to face surgery from a whiny surgeon like Craig or someone who is tough from enduring?
Making of a Surgeon in the 21st Century - M. P. Tanner - Wakefield, RI United States
Dr. Miller describes in clear cut detail the huge challenges faced by surgeons in training today. Between the arrogance and explosive personalities of the house staff, the cut-throat competitiveness of the residency program and the dreaded weekly M&M conferences, the author presents a stress-filled world that only a chosen few could endure. A great read for anyone interested in medicine.
just...ok - T. Naseem - Hartford, CT
Compared to other "surgical" based books, this one did'nt have the kick in it. When compared to Gawande's Complications or Vertosick's When Air Hits Your Brain, this ones not even close. Not worth the time or ur cash
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