Customer Reviews

Learning to Play God

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4 star:		(1)
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This book was absolutely the best true to life book I have read about the medical journey. I could not put it down. Marion is honest about his medical experiences, and although it is dated it is one of the best books I have ever read. If you are interested in becoming a doctor, read this first!

As a third year pediatric resident, it was gratifying to know that others have gone through the training and lived to tell the tale. However, I found the complete lack of preparation and ability of the interns to be a bit over-exaggerated. I think that the training has become much better since Marion was an intern. Still, there were many nights early in my second year when I was the senior resident in the house and I had nobody to turn to for guidance during difficult situations. Young physicians are forced to look very confident,especially at times when inside we may be terrified and feel very insecure about our abilities. Marion really captures that emotion. He also really captures the abuse of the housestaff by some faculty who treat us like slaves. Hopefully patients, as well as medical personnel will read this book, and gain a deeper understanding of what we have gone through.

There are only a few books that I enjoyed as much as this book. Dr. Marion is an amazing writer. He manages to keep readers interested without being unrealistic. I recommand this book for anyone interested in becoming a doctor or even dating someone that is thinking of becoming one. The book explores the shortcoming of modern day medical training and the emotional stress that students go through in the process. A must read for pre-med students!

I'm going to keep it plain and simple. This is one of the few excellent medical books that are avialable. I have read many and I highly recommend this one. I just wish I could forget everything I have read so that I could read it again for the first time. I couldn't put the book down. In case you are interested some other great books are "When the air hits your brain", and "first do no harm, reflections on becoming a neurosurgeon". Enjoy!

Dr. Marion holds nothing back in his memoirs of medical school and residency. He is able to show us the fear and inadequacy he felt as a young student doctor without trying to explain away mistakes that he made (refering to the "NICU from Hell"). Every medical student and resident has experienced feelings of sheer terror and complete exhaustion during their training, but Dr. Marion is one of the few I've seen who was willing to tell the public about it. A must read for anyone in or around (family/friends) the profession of medicine.

A very accurate account of one man's medical school education and training. This author, who is obviously a very sensitive and compassionate man, reveals how sleep deprivation, overwork, and lack of respect from doctor colleagues help turn today's doctors into unfeeling, irritable, automatons. It is telling, that a man such as this author, an obviously caring, perceptive doctor, was denied admission to many U.S. medical schools, and had to begin his training in another country. (Fortunately, after 6 months in a foreign school, the author was lucky enough to make a U.S. contact who helped him get into a U.S.medical school.)

I really enjoyed this book! Dr. Marion is very honest about his experiences. The stories are sometimes disturbing and sad, but sometimes happy and they are well written. This book is much better than White Coat by Dr. Rothman because it is much more honest. When I read this book, I felt like I was right there with Dr. Marion.

Absolutely loved this book. For anyone interested in the training of an M.D., Dr. Marion's book is phenomenal. You'll gain a huge amount of respect for the pure hell that interns and residents are forced to endure during their post-medical school years. I enjoyed this book so much that I read it twice.

This book is really a great read. Marion tells it like it is and doesn't hold back. Easy to read. It is all about the ups and downs of becoming a doctor within the social and cultural society that we have become. This is a great book to read if you are interested in the medical field. Look for more books by Marion, he is a great writer.

Many physicians seem less than human in their ability to connect with the sick and dying. The problem is traceable to how these men and women are trained. This story of one man's medical education in the US, illuminates the process whereby idealistic young people become doctors, often losing their compassion and empathy along the way. Marion's writing style is somewhat pedestrian but his message is important: revamp medical training so that those who earn the right to be called doctor, retain some measure of their humanity.