Final Exam: A Surgeon's Reflections on Mortality (Vintage)

I don't remember how I came to know about this book (I am not in medicine or considering it) but I was intrigued with the author and the subject. I gave this book 5 stars for its perspective and lacking narcissism, a refreshing read from a high profile profession. I read the book in one sitting and have since purchased it for a couple of people in college considering medicine as a career.

The Author is like your Mom, comfortably exposing the human in herself through medical school, practice, death and the process of dying.

This book explains about mortality and the medical student. She goes into great detail about her experience with the cadaver in medcical school. I think it would be good for anyone contemplating a career as a physician.

I am one of those people who is always the patient ... and I am one of those complicated patients where things don't typically go as planned. I am probably not one of a surgeon's easiest patients as I tend to test their mettle. That being said, I have had surgeries where surgeons have removed various organs from my neck (thyroid) down to my abdomen (gallbladder and hyster.) All of them have been complicated by one thing or another.

I have asked myself more than once: "How do surgeon's do it?" How do they get to that almost God-like place where they hold life in the balance for a period of time and we, the patient, put our utmost trust in them? It's quite amazing if you think about it.

The one aspect that is not often addressed or talked about is that of death. How does a doctor distance themselves enough emotionally so that they can continue to do their job? How do they get through the first time that they are actually responsible for a patient's death? These are tough questions that require a special journey for doctors. Dr. Chen's book outlines this journey from med student to a fully-fledged practicing physician specialist. She shares the shift that has taken place in medical studies that teach young doctors how to deal with death in a healthy way that includes palliative care. The journey is fascinating and touching.

As a patient, I always wonder. This book helped to pull the curtain back just a little bit more. Thank you Dr. Chen!

I find this book to be so full of the truth. Even as a nurse, I have often been left in the wake of a bumbling doctor or resident to give more information to a shocked family about a terminal diagnosis. The author has such an honest perspective. Hard to put down.

Dr. Chen's book is a must read for any consumer of modern medicine. In an easy to read narrative style Dr. Chen presents a lucid view of the profession with brutal honesty. One cannot help but be impressed with her sense of mission and her call for greater compassion for the termianlly ill. Her admonistion to any doctor that she should put herslef in the shoes of the patients and ask herself "What would I do if I were the patient?" And "how can I be a better doctor?" should be the new motto for the heling profession.

Although there is no fianl resolution to the conflict of how to be professionally detached so that the doctor can deliver the best of her skills yet remain compassionatley involved with the patients, by raising the question, Dr. Chen has made a tremendous contribution to the art of healing.