The Fifth Pathway

By Valerie Fortunato

This is a riveting, non-fiction story of an emergency physician's career and how becoming a doctor sends his life into a tailspin. A real-life drama of a man so determined to become a medical doctor at an older age that he's willing to do almost anything. After submitting over forty medical school applications everywhere, he is accepted to study medicine in Guadalajara, Mexico. In 1971, feeling it is probably his last chance to become a physician, Matt Russell leaves the United States headed south to Mexico. Accompanied by his young family and wife, he loads up their station wagon and old trailer with personal and household items so they could begin living in Mexico for four years. The roads in Mexico are difficult to travel and cause flat tires and breakdowns. They traveled many miles without seeing other drivers. The isolation caused a perfect situation for Banditos who would hide and wait for travelers whom they would rob and kill for money and goods. After studying in Mexico about a month, Matt realized he was failing medical school. His inability to speak and understand Spanish made it impossible for him to learn medical theories and medical terminology. He is ready to return to the United States until he finds a Spanish-speaking tutor who can coach him in the medical school curriculum. Matt's wife has an emotional breakdown and returns to the United States with their children. Matt begins an affair with his tutor and they live together and have two children. Because Matt is a foreign medical school student, before he can graduate he has to spend and extra year of study to prove he is qualified to practice medicine in all disciplines. In 1980, nine years after beginning medical school and after completing a Specialty in Emergency Medicine, Matt is now at the top of his game. He is no longer thought of as the 'foreign medical doctor with no skills.' He receives an offer to staff an ER at a hospital in the Southern California mountains. There Matt meets Valerie, a critical-care nurse who helps him become the director of that ER. He and Valerie fall in love. Valerie is a pilot with many ratings including a flight instructor's certificate. Valerie teaches Matt the basics of flying and he becomes a private pilot. Now in his late-forties and working in Arizona as an ER staffing physician, Matt begins to realize that working five, twelve-hour night shifts each week without adequate sleep during the day was causing him to become paranoid from chronic fatigue. He is always terribly tired and becomes cranky and ugly with Valerie and co-workers. He seeks the company of other women to help him feel happier and more important. Eventually, he meets Elizabeth who wants to marry a doctor and have children. Temporarily Matt chooses Elizabeth over Valerie and breaks Valerie's heart. Several months into his new marriage, Matt was all ready wishing he wasn't married to Elizabeth. He goes looking for Valerie hoping she will open her heart and take him back. She is reluctant to be with Matt again but, still has strong feelings of love for him. Matt becomes depressed and realizes he needs to make amends to the people he has hurt in his life. Matt is almost 50 year old now with no stable, loving relationships, no security and very little money. He has spent years living in the fast lane trying to become an important, wealthy doctor while he missed seeing his children as they grew into adulthood. He is very depressed as he embarks on a new marriage that includes becoming a father again.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1982945516
• ISBN13: 9781982945510
• Release Date: April 2018
• Publisher: Independently published
• Length: 414 Pages
• Weight: 1.54 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.0" x 1.0" x 6.0"