In this riveting memoir, an ER doctor reveals how his high-stress career of helping others led to a struggle to save himself.
"It turns out there are all kinds of things about working in an ER that most of us haven't learned from TV or having sat in one. In Something for the Pain, Paul Austin—the ER doc you'd hope to get if something really bad happened—tells us, vividly and with uncommon candor, how, if you aren't careful, saving people's lives can make you sick."—Ted Conover, author of Newjack In this eye-opening account of life in the ER, Paul Austin recalls how the daily grind of long, erratic shifts and endless hordes of patients with sad stories sent him down a path of bitterness and cynicism. His own life becomes Exhibit A, as he details the emotional detachment that estranges him from himself and his family. Gritty, powerful, and ultimately redemptive, Austin's memoir is a revealing glimpse into the fragility of compassion and sanity in the industrial setting of today's hospitals.
For twenty-five years, Paul Austin has worked in emergencies - first as a firefighter, and more recently, as an ER doctor. His book, "Something For the Pain," is about the way his job almost wrecked his family.
It turns out, that working rotating shifts in a busy ER can make you, and the people around you, miserable. Paul had to learn, sometimes the hard way, that he had to take care of himself in order to take care of his family and patients.
Paul was thrilled when "Something For the Pain," was selected for Durham Reads Together, a program sponsered by the Durham Public Library, in which the entire community is encouraged to read the same book. The program runs from October 3 to November 1, 2009. For further information please visit the Durham Public Library Website.
Please also visit Paul's website: www.paulethanaustin.com
