Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, March 4, 1990 TAG: 9003042262
SECTION: HORIZON PAGE: F-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Reviewed by SIDNEY BARRITT
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Sacco's tale of an internship spent in a big-city hospital begins with ambiguity.
An elderly, demented patient with pneumonia lies in his care. The inexperienced intern feels compelled to put the patient through the usual diagnostic tests to assure proper treatment. The uncomprehending and uncooperative patient resists and a pathetic struggle ensues that ennobles neither participant.
Every physician has wrestled with such conflicts.
Blessed with some common sense, and the ability to reflect and benefit from experience, and with some guidance from older physicians, most learn to resolve such situations at a point where both personal and, more importantly, patient dignity remains intact. But for Sacco, that hasn't happened by the end of the book.
What has developed is an attitude of hostility: hostility toward nurses, attending physicians, fellow ancillary personnel, the "whole system," and, unfortunately, toward patients as well. That is evident in the stories he selects and in the language he chooses to embellish them. Never use a conventional phrase when a vulgarity will substitute! Never balance incomprehension with insight, a defeat with a victory.
Could this all be exaggeration just for the sake of emphasis? A sophomoric attempt at comic effect, just the result of living and working in New York City? I doubt it.
It occurred to me that this reaction might be far too personal and dated by a 20-year removal from the trials of internship. I lent the book to a current intern, 1989-90 vintage. His reaction mirrored mine. I lent it to a nurse who is accustomed to dealing with interns. Her comment: "an arrested adolescent; he picked the wrong profession."
There is little about the book to recommend it.
by CNB