White Coat: Becoming a Doctor at Harvard Medical School

By Ellen Lerner Rothman

Book Overview

In White Coat, Ellen Rothman offers a vivid account of her four years at one of the best medical schools in the country, and opens the infamously closed door between patient and doctor. Touching on today's most important medical issues -- such as HMOs, AIDS, and assisted suicide -- the author navigates her way through despair, exhilaration, and a lot of exhaustion in Harvard's classrooms and Boston's hospitals to earn the indisputable title to which we entrust our lives. With a thoughtful, candid voice, Rothman writes about a wide range of experiences -- from a dream about holding the hand of a cadaver she had dissected to the acute embarrassment she felt when asking patients about their sexual histories. She shares her horror at treating a patient with a flesh-eating skin infection, the anxiety of being "pimped" by doctors for information (when doctors quiz students on anatomy and medicine), as well as the ultimate reward of making the transformation and of earning a doctor's white coat. For readers of Perri Klass, Richard Selzer, and the millions of fans of ER , White Coat is a fascinating account of one woman's journey through school and into the high-stakes drama of the medical world.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0688153135
• ISBN13: 9780688153137
• Release Date: March 1999
• Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
• Length: 352 Pages
• Weight: 1.35 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.3" x 6.5" x 9.6"

Customer Reviews

A Good Read

Very interesting book on how Harvard medical students learn how to become doctors. A sequel to this book would be the residency years of her training. I just wish there was an epilogue at the end to find out how the author is practicing today.

Very inspiring

I really enjoy this book, it makes me recall the days when I was a medical student, clerk, and intern. The observation and description are superb. And in a feminine point of view, it makes the scenario more detailed and heart-stirring. It doesn't intend to pretend to be saint or great as someone thinks that Harvard something should be, I think it just honestly reflect the feelings, the thoughts come to mind. And I hope the author can publish more books like this. According to the introduction in the Taiwan's translated edition, the author works at Indian Reservation in Arizona now. So, I think the author is really a good doctor who doesn't regard "life quality" as a doctor's major concern. That's not easy.

This book led me to where I am now

After reading about her experiences, I made my decision to go into the field of medicine (as opposed to nursing or PA). This book may have been one of the determining factors in leading me to be who I am, and who I will be in the future!

useful

I thought this book was reflective of what it is really like to go to medical school. Many of the experiences she relates are similar to what I've experienced and felt in medical school.

Read this book!

A wonderful book that "tells it like it is". It's a first-person narrative that journeys through acceptance into med school through graduation. The reader will get a strong sense of the pace of medical school, as well as some of the mental challenges along the way. It's feels as though the author and the reader are side-by-side. One feels the accomplishment and frustration of the author. This is a must-have for anyone contemplating medical school.

Delightful Journey

Doctor Ellen Lerner Rothman has written a good book. She takes you through her life while she's in medical school. Through her ups and downs, you learn what it would be like. I rate this a proud 5 stars. I gladly recommend this book to any person that is interested in medical school or medicine in general.