THE MAKING OF A SURGEON

by ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 9, 1970

Dr. Nolen went to Bellevue as an intern about fifteen years ago and this is a low-keyed but crucial account of the years he spent there in surgery, working his way up to chief resident. Less critical of professional and institutional difficulties than Intern or most recently Michael Clichton's Five Patients, always aware of the low ceiling of human oversight and error, his book walks soundlessly down the corridors of New York's most overburdened facility for the underprivileged. And his very level, suture by ligature, account of the cases he handled (sometimes mishandled) is fascinating indeed. Bellevue is a large city hospital where everything is much harder; along with the missing syringes and pipettes, lost films and waiting lists for almost everything, there's the caseload of patients -- derelicts with maggot infested ulcers, skinpopping addicts, or just the ""dump"" victims -- whose poverty creates a whole new set of variables. All in all a scut book full of fascinating shoptalk; Dr. Nolen is a very nice man to have around in sickness and in health.

Pub Date: Nov. 9, 1970

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Random House

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 1970

Categories: NONFICTION