Product Description

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #10487 in Books
• Published on: 2007-12-26
• Released on: 2007-12-26
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 320 pages

From Publishers Weekly
Jauhar, a cardiologist who directs the Heart Failure Program at Long Island Jewish Medical Center, completed his internship a decade ago, but still remembers his confusing, tumultuous medical apprenticeship at the prestigious New York Hospital the way soldiers remember war. The son of an embittered immigrant plant geneticist who found the American university tenure system racist, Jauhar dithered over career choices and completed a doctorate in physics before embarking on medicine. Jauhar feels responsible when he botches the blood pressure check on a patient who later dies during an aortic dissection and when he misses the high blood sodium level of a man who then suffers irreversible brain damage. He wonders if he and his colleagues have discriminated against a cardiac patient because of his weight, and helps an advanced cancer patient's wife decide against the futile insertion of a breathing tube. As his internship progresses, he romances his future wife (an affair he describes with the passion of one buying a used car); cracks under self-doubt and the expectations of his traditional Indian family, and suffers a serious depression. He regrets that as a doctor he is sometimes impatient, emotionless and paternalistic. Although Jauhar carefully elucidates complex medical terminology for lay readers, his thoughtful, valuable memoir will be most relevant to medical students and interns experiencing similar crises. (Jan.)
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Review

“Very few books can make you laugh and cry at the same time. This is one of them. Sandeep reveals himself in this book as he takes us on a wondrous journey through one of the most difficult years of his life. It is mandatory reading for anyone who has been even the slightest bit curious about how a doctor gets trained, and for physicians, it is a valuable record of our initiation.” —Sanjay Gupta, CNN medical correspondent and author of Chasing Life

“Intern will resonate not only with doctors, but with anyone who has struggled with the grand question: ‘what should I do with my life?’ In a voice of profound honesty and intelligence, Sandeep Jauhar gives us an insider's look at the medical profession, and also a dramatic account of the psychological challenges of early adulthood.” —Akhil Sharma, author of An Obedient Father

“Told of here is a time of travail and testing—a doctor’s initiation into the trials of a demanding yet hauntingly affirming profession—all conveyed by a skilled, knowing writer whose words summon memories of his two great predecessors, Dr. Anton Chekhov and Dr. William Carlos Williams: a noble lineage to which this young doctor’s mind, heart, and soul entitle him to belong.” — Robert Coles

"Intern is not just a gripping tale of becoming a doctor. It's also a courageous critique, a saga of an immigrant family living (at times a little uneasily) the American dream, and even a love story. A great read and a valuable addition to the literature--and I use the word advisedly--of medical training." --Melvin Konner, M.D. Ph.D., author of Becoming a Doctor

"In this era when medical shows abound on TV, Jauhar demonstrates the power of the written word in the hands of a sensitive, thoughtful observer and an experienced, gifted writer. Intern is a compelling, accurate and heartfelt chronicle of what that year is really like. It will be the standard by which future such memoirs will be judged."--Abraham Verghese, author of My Own Country and The Tennis Partner

About the Author
Sandeep Jauhar, MD, PhD, is the director of the Heart Failure Program at Long Island Jewish Medical Center. He writes regularly for The New York Times and The New England Journal of Medicine. He lives with his wife and their son in New York City.

Customer Reviews

Review on Intern
There are several books I've read that speak along the same lines of this book but there is one things that stands out. The difference in this publication lies in that the author speaks magnitudes about one's natural tendency to feel lost in the environment of medicine. It illuminates the emotions a person experiences with clarity and depth. More importantly, in my opinion Dr. Jauhar displays bravery in undergoing the task of writing his experiences.. I do not know any person who is willing to admit to their weaknesses though we all have them. He goes on to create a lucid picture of the hierarchy in the health system while taking the reader along for a ride down nostolgic paths of how one found his/her purpose in pursuing such a career. There is not much more to say except Dr. Jauhar should be applauded for expressing the truth that much of us are scared to admit we dealt with at one time.

Must read for those thinking about a medical career
If you are like me and wondering if the path to being a doctor is the right choice, then you might want to take the time to read through this one. The author gives you a first hand look at what it takes, and he doesn't hold back on details.

Mediocre overall....much better books on similar subjects out there
I read this book this past weekend. I think the book was an easy read and the writer has some obvious literary skills. I give the author the credit for being honest about his weakness and fears, but in the end, I never get the sense that the author actually wants to be a doctor. He is almost an "Atul Gawande" wanna be....Good effort, but no where near as insightful as the vast amount of other authors who have written similar titles.