Learning to Play God: The Coming of Age of a Young Doctor

The frustration, anger and sheer exhaustion pervading the author's medical education from 1973 to 1981 have not diminished with the passing of time, as Marion ( The Boy Who Felt No Pain ) makes amply clear in this reasoned, vivid recollection. Sparing himself no more than others, he reviews the toll exacted on his ideals and emotional resources by his years at Albert Schweitzer School of Medicine in New York City, during his internship at Boston Medical Center--described as demeaning as well as grueling--and residency in pediatrics back in New York at Jonas Bronck Hospital, affiliated with Schweitzer, where the author is now an associate professor and member of the admissions committee. Framed by suggestions for clinical and classroom reform, the body of the book is an immediately felt, year-by-year account of Marion's experiences--from the soul- and mind-numbing 36-hour shifts in emergency rooms of urban hospitals to the elation of an on-target diagnosis or a child's awakening from a months-long coma. With sharp characterization and no sentimentality, Marion presents a persuasive case for humanizing the education of our physicians. (Nov.)