Richard Sheff

I was a little bit leery of this book because of the title. I tend to shy away from any book with "confidential" in its title. But instead of the sensationalism that confidential is often means it was a more of a "between you and me" situation.

Doctor Confidential: Secrets Behind the Veil by Richard A. Sheff spoke of his personal experiences of a young medical student all the way through to his senior residency. My father was a family doctor. He was back from WWII and going through med school when I was in elementary school so I think back to my memories of him and think about what Dr. Sheff went through.

Richard Sheff started medical school with the idea of being a psychiatrist because of his rewarding experience of leading groups in the past but something happened as he explored the different specialties. He explores what it is like to be on a seemingly endless schedule without refreshing sleep and treat so many people. What is the answer? Studies have shown that shortening the shifts does not work, that there are more hours. Why? Because the interns are seeing the same number of patients in fewer hours. What is the solution?

Dr. Sheff tells of doctors who made a game of humiliating their interns. A few of doctors make a game of it. Just as in law school. Is this the best way to teach? As an intern, he said that there are times of not knowing what to do yet being called on to do it. I think that his picture of what goes on during doctor training, points out many of the faults, the heartbreaks and feeling of empathy for patients on rounds. I agree with him. I have been seen on the rounds as a patient. It is humiliating. It does feel like you are being used and there is no regard for your feelings.

This book was written in 2011. Some things have changed for the good but others still the same. There are many other kinds of experiences of interns that he explores in this book as to whether or not they are helpful or harmful.

I highly recommend this book as a true picture of a doctor in training and also a critique of things that need to change.… (mehr)

Much better than the cover/title indicates!
The author recounts the experiences in interacting with patients that shaped him as a doctor in training, and how he went on to become a family practice physician. It's both a personal memoir and a text about how the author feels empathy is stunted-- and, sometimes, nutured-- in the physician training process. For people who like to read physician memoirs, a good if uneven read. The author has put so much himself into this book that it feels uncomfortable to criticize, but clearly he could have used a more involved, less sensational editor to help him clarify his organization and shape his prose structure. (And get rid of that 'near-death photo' cover!) For those who wonder whether physicians are actually trained to be unsympathetic and sometimes unhelpful, and what we can do about the lack of empathy in medicine, this is a useful read. I enjoyed it.… (mehr)

I was a bit apprehensive when I agreed to read and review Doctor Confidential: Secrets Behind The Veil. I hoped it was not written like a text book as some of these nonfiction memoirs tend to be. I was pleasantly surprised and once I started reading this book I was hooked. The story takes us from the time of Dr.Sheff's gross anatomy class in medical school to his senior residency. Dr.Sheff shares with the reader all the experiences in training, observing and treating patients. This book reads very much like a novel and takes the reader through years of no sleep, caffeine ladden days and nights, some not very nice physicians and patients. Dr.Sheff was able to find his niche as to what kind of specialty he wanted to pursue after med school after interning in areas such as psychiatry, obstetrics and gynecology. I have always loved reading books that had anything to do with the medical field, mostly fiction though but I definitely enjoyed this book. This would be a great book for anyone who is in medical school and even the layperson who is interested in the education and training of a physician.

Dr.Sheff, I feel, is a passionate, understanding and caring physician who is the model for this quote from Hippocrates;

"Wherever the art of medicine is loved, there is also a love of humanity"… (mehr)