Dr. Transue's book was published in 2004. At the time, there were not as many medical memoirs on the market. There are still relatively few medical memoirs published, but I can't help but compare Transue's book to Sandeep Jauhar's book, Intern: A Doctor's Initiation, published in 2008. But first, a bit more about Transue's book.Audience. Transue clearly is writing for non-physicians. She even includes a glossary in the back of the book with words like central line, amyloidosis, and even the word attending. Her stories often involve clear explanations on the ailments her patients have so as to not lose the reader in technical jargon.
Organization. The book is largely chronological, although its short-story format may not necessarily require chronological sequencing. Each story is 5-8 pages long-- long enough for character development and details and short enough to keep your interest piqued. That being said, I couldn't help but feel a disconnect with Transue because the stories didn't build upon each other.
Comparison with Intern: A Doctor's Initiation
Both Transue and Jauhar were internal medicine residents. Both begin their stories with their first day of intern year, stories from their first year, and then move on to second year, looking back on the first year once they are more senior in residency. Both struggle with relationships, although in different ways. Jauhar gets married to his girlfriend that he met before residency started; Transue struggles with being single and wanting to be in a relationship.
While I enjoyed Transue's book and simple writing style, I couldn't help but feel like I couldn't get to know her because of the format of the book. One of the more memorable stories involves Transue connecting with a patient with terminal cancer. The patient used to travel to Valencia, but likely will not make it back before he dies. After he passes, she writes:
Other patients come, to fill his empty room, to fill my hours. But he stays with me, in the blue sky, in the lush greens and pinks of the spring that has finally come. I remember to look out the windows, to watch the evening light on the cathedral, which I imagine as being magically transported from Valencia. And I hold his Spanish islands in my heart when there are moments I have trouble bearing, promising myself that I will go there someday, that I will walk along the cobbled paths and feel the sunshine and know the joy in my life that he had in his.
It's a touching story, as are many of Transue's stories. She seems to have an incredible amount of compassion for all of her patients. Still, Jauhar's format, which strings stories together and builds upon itself, was more enjoyable for me because I could follow Jauhar's emotional and mental development through residency. Jauhar also touched upon more controversial topics such as informed consent, publishing while being a doctor, and DNR conversations. These conflicts, coupled with Jauhar's stories of his personal life and progression through residency, really helped to keep me interested. It took me a while to read Transue's book simply because I felt like many of the stories were similar. She would connect with a patient, try and help solve their medical condition or struggle with their death or difficult diagnosis. She would learn something that would translate into her personal life, and then we'd be on to the next story with the next life lesson.
I would recommend Transue's book to someone who doesn't have any family member in the medical field and would like a small sampling of what the life of a resident looks like. For the more seasoned medical memoir reader, I recommend books by Atul Gawande.
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