Customer Reviews

The Year of the Intern

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This novel is certainly not the standard thriller type that readers have seen from Cook before. That being said, I literally did not put this book down until it was finished. Cook makes the reader feel like you are going through the that year personally. The vivid details and strong main character development really draw you in. This book certainly will give a great deal of food for thought for the med school hopeful. For anyone who is or will be a hospital paitent it is very disturbing to read how lost a new intern is. For the reader looking for information or thought read this. For the reader looking for pure entertainment...try a different Cook novel.

Dr. Cook once again has written a masterpiece. This book differs from his medical thrillers, however, provides insight to the lay man about the perils new MD's must go through. If you really want to know what your doctor is thinking read this!

MD in training

The Year Of The Intern chronicles the year a young doctor spends as an intern. Along with lots of fascinating medical detail, the book takes a searingly honest look at the physical and psychological cost to the intern. These include: the near-indescribable exhaustion, the expectation of carrying out complicated and risky procedures the intern does not have the experience for, the life-or-death decisions to be made daily, dealing with anxious, angry and distraught relatives and, worst of all, the gradual ebbing of empathy eg Dr Peters starts thinking of each patient by their disease rather than their name.

What really disturbed me was the fact that this was written in 1972 and so little has really changed. This should be compulsory reading for anyone thinking of entering the medical or nursing professions. If it doesn't put you off, you've found your calling!

Being Cooks first book, it also is one of his best, but is not to be compared to his trash novels nowadays. It gives an interesting insight on his own feelings and experiences of internship in line with Samuel Shem's "House of God." This is not for the faint-hearted - otherwise you might choose to medicate yourself before ever entering a hospital again.

This is a great book. Whether you like Robin Cook or not you should give this book a read. His first novel and very different to his thrillers, this book follows the journey of an intern's mind through his year placement. It will certainly give people a different perspective of the medical world. The book was written in the 70's but somehow (sadly) I don't think the life of a fledging doctor has changed to this day...

GREAT book. I must have read 5 times. Engaging writing style, sharp wit, and a great story line. Sounds very truthfull, and at times, scary. If you are thinking of becoming a doctor, this is definetely a book for you. My only problem with this book is that it was written in the eighties, and so could be outdated.

I stumbled on this book by finding a checkout slip in a library book (Virus X) and being a biologist with an interest in the medical field, wondered if these book written by a 'real doctor' might be marvelous. I got really interested when I saw how many book were written by Robin Cook. Someone must love his writing style in order to keep publishing his works, right?!?!? Well, this one is the only one of the 4 I've read that were worth my time! A revealing look at the life-style of the 'captive' intern jumping through the hoops necessary to make it to the 'real world of medicine'. The sleep deprivation, the 'old boy' school, the dissing of the intern by those further along the path. Sad but true.

I thought that this book would be a medical thriller, as so many of Robin Cook's book are. Instead, I found a brief series of anedoctal medical cases, described by a barely fictional intern. The book has little to no plot. The series of patients problems described are brief and repeatedly focus on just how poorly trained, exhausted and frightened the intern in the book is, over and over. It IS frightening to know that though this book was written in 1972, little has change in the life of an intern. The intern is "turned out" to function on his own and when he consults the full fledged physicans, they cannot be bothered with his quantries. THIS is the FRIGHT that Robin Cook has placed in a supposed medical thriller. Save your money to read his more recent, truly medical thrillers, if that is the genre you are looking for. This book will just leave you with a fear of your next trip to the ER or for surgery. Certainly, there HAS to be genuinely educationed, experienced, and compassionate physicans out there, but from reading this book, you won't be assured that this is the best medical care that you will find for your medical conditions.

This was Robin Cook's debut novel, first published in 1973 by Signet and was way ahead of its time! The novel follows a young intern as goes through the REAL training for medical school. And believe me, it isn't pretty. Some scenes are gut-wrenching while others are mind-boggling. This was a fine debut from a great author, and I can't wait to read his other books!

I have been a frequent reader of Robin Cook's books since I was probably 14 or 15. Now, at 19, I read this book last year shortly before leaving for college. Since I am hoping to eventually go to medical school, I figured this would be a book to read and it was. I absolutely loved every single second of it and could hardly put it down. This is definitely a book for anyone interested in medicine to read.