Rotations: The Twelve Months of Intern Life [Hardcover]

Robert Marion (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1997

The sequel to The Intern Blues provides a close-up look at the real-life challenges confronting three pediatric interns at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, exploring the successes and failures of America's medical training and the triumphs and tragedies of health care."

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

YA. Using the same format as he did in Intern Blues (Fawcett, 1990), Marion details the experiences of three new pediatricians as they maneuver through their perilous first year of residency. He examines the similarities and differences in physician training demands since the reforms of the Bell Commission in the 1980s. Interspersed among the doctors' diary entries are Marion's comparisons with the three students from Intern Blues and from his own training in the 1970s. He refers to Samuel Shem's dark comic novel House of God (Dell, 1981) and points to changes that have occurred in training and to some things that never will, e.g., "The main goal of the intern is to get to sleep." For young adults who are considering a medical career, or those who are just fascinated by medicine, this book is sure to please. Fast-paced and filled with anecdotes of heroism, sadness, and euphoria, this account of the life-and-death struggles in a hospital will provide an educational reading experience.?Carol DeAngelo, formerly at Fairfax County Public Library, VA
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From the Publisher

Focusing on the hot subject of health care in America, Robert Marion weaves a dramatic story that traces a year in the lives of three pediatric interns under his tutelage at Albert Einstein College of Medicine. Marion uses their experiences as his narrative framework. He explores the successes and failures of this country's medical training, examining its every facet from the shifting landscape of medical rules and regulations to the ever-changing health care system to the gritty daily details of blood and bone. Filled with thrilling heroics, harrowing tragedies and inspiring triumphs, Rotation masterfully reflects the author's decades of experience managing medical students and presents an unparalleled historical perspective on the practice of training young physicians today.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: Harpercollins; 1st edition (June 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060172630
• ISBN-13: 978-0060172633
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.1 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 2.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #789,350 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Oh, how little internship has changed..., March 24, 2000

By 

S. Martin - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Rotations: The 12 Months of Intern Life (Mass Market Paperback)

Having read Learning to Play God (excellent) and Intern Blues (very elightening), both by Dr. Marion, I was thrilled to find Rotations on the shelf of my local bookstore. His desire to convey how much and how little has changed since the mid 80s when Intern Blues took place is commendable. However, his effort was fair to middling at best (if you have read the previous two books). Women are more accepted (thank goodness) and family leave time for pregancy is no longer much of an issue. But, late nights, incompetent techs, and 9-5 nurses (and doctors!) still exist basically unchanged. The main problem that I had with this book was the paucity of NEW information. Refering to previous works (Intern by Doctor X is very educational) can add to a work, but I felt that Rotations relied to heavily upon them. Dr. Marion is an excellent and honest writer, but Rotations is not the first of his works that I would recommend to my friends.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Very much like a duplicate of "Intern Blues", May 26, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Rotations: The 12 Months of Intern Life (Mass Market Paperback)

The author spends a majority of the book reliving his own experience as an intern, there is plenty of items reprinted from the "Intern Blues", and only a small portion devoted to the three interns whom the book was supposed to portray. If you've read "Intern Blues", don't bother with "Rotations", just read "Intern Blues" again. These two books are almost identical.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars "Two for the price of one", May 7, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Rotations: The 12 Months of Intern Life (Mass Market Paperback)

I like Marion's idea of using actual intern diaries to describe residency life -- is there a better way to hear it than "directly from the horse's mouth?" However, Marion chooses to use not only the three diaries from his most recent interns (the 1994 class), but also includes many diary enteries from his "Internal Blues" residents. His constant switching from current to past diaries made reading the novel confusing -- I often found myself paging back to the prologue to try and determine who was who. And to add to this already perplexing situation, Marion frequently chooses to add tidbits from his own intern experience.

In addition to the fact that the large cast of characters made the novel confusing, the book was also lacking a "big picture." A collection of little stories pieced together, the author allows us brief glimpses at moments of the intern's lives, but there is definitely a lack of continuum and focus. Taking the juiciest, most interesting enteries from the intern diaries keeps the reader awake, but the lack of continuity often caused my mind to drift elsewhere. And by the time I was back to being focused on the story, I had to read the prologue again to figure out who the character was.

One "benefit" of this book: Marion includes much of what was in his "Internal Blues" book in this novel. So if you are into making bargain buys, this is a "two-for-one" deal.