To read this book is to get a fascinating peek underneath that white coat at the heart and soul of a doctor. A sentiment expressed throughout the book: “Medicine is not a job. Medicine is a lifestyle and you live it 24 hours a day. You live to serve. … You give back to society in any way that you possibly can. But that’s what makes it fun. I don’t work for a living. I get up every morning and I have fun. Then, I go to bed.” (Dr. Wik, p.50) For a memoir loving, medical topic interested reader like me this was a very hard book to put down. Every doctor highlighted in these pages is a hero of sorts, and each had an interesting story to tell.

I’d barely finished this book when we received word of the death of a young nephew. This tiny six year old, who couldn’t see, hear, speak, walk or even eat; who wore leg braces, glasses, hearing aids and a belly feeding device; who was so often sick and hospitalized – this child had a medical team of heroes, too. Among the people crowded into the room at his funeral, I met his doctor. This gentleman’s practice is in a city an hour away, yet he’d taken time to be there for the family of the young boy he’d been treating for so long. I overheard him tell my nephew’s young mother, “I would like you to pick out a tree, whatever kind you want, that I can buy and have planted in your yard as a memorial to Christopher”. Sometimes heroes come in every-day packages, quietly impacting individual lives.

You can read stories of some of them in this book. There is a breadth of life history in these pages; of doctors who’ve made a difference in the lives of individuals, in societies, in their profession, in the service of their country. A quick internet search shows that doctors comprise about one third of one percent of the U.S. population. The path toward becoming a doctor is a very tough one; it takes a special person to persevere. Those who earn that title of Doctor are worthy of the name. Even among those, there are individuals who stand out among their peers. Mr. Busalacchi introduces us to some of them with his book White Coat Wisdom. The author’s goal “was to personalize the profession by focusing on a few dozen physicians I had come to know through the years who have medical interests that are particularly salient, thereby combining biography with intriguing medical topics. . . . You will have greater appreciation for what it takes to succeed in this profession {or any profession} and what your doctor did to learn his or her craft. But more importantly, you will learn and be entertained by their unique experiences, where human lives are always hanging in the balance.”

Mr. Busalacchi more than succeeds in his goal. In his capacity of medical news reporter with public radio, and in public relations with the state medical society, he’s had decades of interaction with individual physicians, many of whom had stories that he felt needed to be told. Here is one reader who is glad that he acted on that inspiration. Their ‘oral history’ is engaging in every case. Unlike ‘news-magazine’ television shows, where the interviewer’s goal seems to be to phrase questions in order to push their own agenda and to hear their own voice, with the physician guest barely getting a word in edge-wise, Mr. Busalacchi’s interview style is a light touch of questions, and while letting them speak as they will, their very human side emerges. His engagement with his subjects has a very natural cadence.

With his selected physicians, the conversations cover a wide range of medical specialties, public health topics, professional issues, and personal stories of their lives as doctors and of what prompted their interest in medicine. A few examples. On marriage: “We learned that Thanksgiving isn’t the third Thursday in November. It’s whenever we eat the turkey.” On frivolous malpractice suits: “I don’t like the way my anus looks. … There’s a scar there where you took the hemorrhoid off.” One of my favorite chapters was the doctor whose specialty was performing arts and sports medicine. I don’t know why; our family is neither athletic, nor artistic. Though, his parenting solutions were particularly interesting to me.

Another strength of this book – The author knows of what he speaks. He knows these doctors, has associated with them as their professional lives intersected; they all practice in his state of Wisconsin. Very briefly, I was bothered by that fact, but came to believe that this only gave the stories more force. A side effect of reading this book will have you wanting to move to Wisconsin! Descriptions of the medical community there, of their efforts at public health, and of the healthy aspects of that state make it sound awfully inviting.

And even more to like: The author’s intro and postscript were both very thoughtful and well done, while letting the doctors speak for themselves in their own sections. Each section began with a relevant epigraph. The index was nicely done with the physician’s names and topics of interest covered throughout the book. Medical terms which perhaps may not be understood are explained in footnotes.

One quibble. The first doctor profiled happened to come from a family of doctors. I thought that was an unfortunate selection for the first chapter. Only 42% of people who apply to medical school are accepted – the best of the best. It is an extremely difficult process, made easier if you know the game, and more difficult for those who don’t have an inside look at how that game is played before trying to take the field themselves. A reader who is considering or recently entered the process of becoming a physician, and having to pull themselves up to the game by their own boot-straps, may be put off by that first chapter, and so miss the treasures contained book wide. I confess to that impression, being the mother of a boot-strap medical school student, myself.

Of the medical school experience, one of the doctors profiled says: “Physicians are high achieving individuals. I coasted through undergrad. If I tried hard, I did exceptionally well. If I didn’t try hard, I did pretty darn well. I knew medical school would be hard, but… Average has an entirely different meaning.” One of the speakers at my son’s White Coat Ceremony congratulated the incoming class on their acceptance into the profession of medicine. “The toughest hurdle has been overcome – having excelled at all that came before, you are now granted acceptance to medical school. Of course, you are all go-getters. Every one of you is used to being at the top of your class. But, guess what? You can’t ALL be at the top of the class anymore. Not to worry, though, you know what they call the one who graduates at the bottom of the class? . . . ‘Doctor’.”

I was excited to have the opportunity to read and review this book about doctors. It surpassed all my expectations, and I am grateful to the author for providing me a review copy.

I would heartily recommend White Coat Wisdom to anyone who enjoys reading memoirs, is a health nut, has a physician in their family, or has an interest in medical topics. White Coat Wisdom gets a hale and healthy FIVE stars from me! ( )