House Of God: Samuel Chem

Classic story which every medic should read.

A thoroughly enjoyable read - essential reading for anyone who thinks a career in medicine or healthcare would be 'fun'.The titular character is a junior doctor in a prestigious East Coast US hospital; who comes in with high ideals of patient treatment, and improving the condition of his fellow man. This illusion is soon shattered by the harsh realities of commercial healthcare, and poor ethics in hospital academic settings.Our hero ends the book by making a move to psychiatry - where further adventures await in the sequel.

Have you ever wondered what's going on behind the impassive, professional countenance of a hospital doctor? Have you ever considered those early years in their careers that they spend on wards? How it is that on the day they graduate from medical school they suddenly have all the answers? Well, they don't."House of God" is Samuel Shem's account of his year as an intern, the first year after medical school (in the UK they're called House Officers).He captures the intensity of the experience perfectly, and the humour that helped him survive makes this book one of the funniest I have ever read.Behind the laughter is a serious account of how he came close to the edge mentally during that first year. The limits of medicine are also revealed, disturbingly for the lay-patient with a naive belief that modern doctors can cure anyone who reaches hospital alive, and there are some sobering conclusions about how we treat the elderly for those who wish to draw them.But I wouldn't want to mislead you - this is above all a hilarious account of a year in the life of a junior doctor in those carefree 70s when alcohol and sex were still recreations and not merely pathologies. The hard edge beneath makes that humour all the more effective, and the occasional tragic event makes the laughter as necessary for the reader's emotional well being as it was for the author.Buy it, read it, and wonder why you had never come across this masterpiece before.

Had this book recommended to me by several senior doctors (usually in the context of complaining about the health service, patients or colleagues). They all seemed to think it was edgy and controversial - a glimpse into the 'real' world of healthcare and revealing the untold truths about how doctors view their patients and each other. In reality, the content is far from revelatory; it is rather old-hat and underwhelming.The book hasn't aged well and has lost much of its relevance to modern medicine. However, it is mildly interesting from a historical perspective.The introduction (written in 1995) claims the book to be outrageous and compares it to Joseph Heller's Catch-22. Nothing in this book is as clever or funny as Catch-22. As for outrageous, I got the end and wondered if I had missed the chapter where the outrageous stuff happened.Perhaps this book is still eye-popping to those who are new to medicine and are, as yet, unjaded. I wonder if those doctors who recommended I read The House of God would still view it as edgy and controversial.There are many other books, since published, that offer the reader a more modern perspective on medicine that I would recommend before bothering with The House of God: In Stitches by Nick Edwards; Sick Notes by Tony Copperfield; Trust Me, I'm a Junior doctor by Max Pemberton.

A rather quirky but truly worthwhile book. An absolute classic in the health sector. So if you’re a doctor, paramedic, or nurse, you should read it.

Great book but a little depressing. If your other half is a doctor maybe set your credulity aside while you read this. Maybe that's what things are like in America but definitely not here, which is a relief! THe writing is funny and engaging and it's a quick, interesting read. I recommend it as long as you're not expecting a saintly, reverent look at the medical profession!

Essential reading for all medical students and doctors of all ages - black humour steeped in humanity - when you are in hospital as a patient, hope for "The Fat Man" who relies on your body to heal itself. Watch out for nearly all others. The humour was the only way to survive the system. A classic - generally voted near the top of lists of books to read by doctors - so we recognise ourselves in there somewhere - and of course all our colleagues! Trust me you need a doctor with a sense of humour!

At first, I was not that into it but once to get going it catches youIt is amazing how much I can identify today’s medical life with the book

There are books - good books! - that are written by putting what's in an authors brain, in a fairly formulaic manner that seems at times, a little forced. Books that are written to be read; easy, digestible prose in unoffensive and perfunctory doses. And then there are books that seem to have been inspired by a muse that sits on the shoulder that the author channels into paper. This book is one of the latter category.The House of God is a book written, as the author would put it, from deep within the author's cardiac muscles and hits you straight in the sigmoid colon. Many have compared the book to Catch-22, and they are right to do so. Both are about people essential, much respected professions, the impossibility of their lives and the cynical ways they cope with the pressures of their occupation. Both are also, about redemption, growth, and love. Both had me laugh uncontrollably and sometimes shed a tear, and both are a must read for any person that believes that humanity is the most hideous and terrible infliction that has been borne upon the universe and at the same time, the most exalted.I don't use the term "love" on inanimate objects often, but I loved this book.So a quick synopsis - but you will find many of them already everywhere:Dr. Roy Basch, a new intern fresh off the BMS ("Best Medical School" - a thinly veiled referenced to Harvard Medical) is off to intern at the "House of God" (again, a thinly veiled reference to Beth Israel). Eager and naive at first he quickly realizes that hospital patients fall into two broad categories: Gomers - elderly patients that refuse to die and are kept alive for monetary purposes (HOUSE LAW NO 1: GOMERS DON'T DIE) and the dying young: younger patients who have their whole lives ahead of them that unexpectedly contract something horrible and die.There to guide him through the conflicts and dilemmas of medical practice (and occasionally non-practice and mal-practice) is the book's unexpected hero: The Fat Man. Some would call him an anti-hero, a combination of a cynic and a humanitarian, The Fat Man has a very Dr. House air about him and is certainly one of my favorite characters of all time.The theme of the book is the conflict between death and life, love and hate: it is dotted with a variety of sexual exploits, where Dr. Basch and some of his friends escape to to avoid thinking about death, constantly. Raunchy in their depiction, they contrast the constant stench of people dying with the interns' attempt at living.All in all - the book deserves a place of honor in my book case. I only hope that the authors' other work is as sublime; Catch-22 was a one off in Heller's work. I am eager to find out if this is a one-off in Shem's.

Libro per tutti i medici, ma soprattutto per chi si affaccia alle professioni sanitarie ospedaliere. Scritto quando non esisteva ancora la "correttezza politica", per cui schietto e vero. Divertentissimo, ed un'ottima scusa per migliorare il proprio Inglese (soprattutto gergo ospedaliero americano). Infatti, utilizzando il dizionario in linea degli e-book, la lettura risulta particolarmente facile anche ai neofiti. Divertente anche per i non medici, tanto per rendersi conto delle mani in cui mettono a volte la loro vita.

Nice book for doctors and others. I had fun reading it, I think is a helpful guide for medical students and young doctors, and for anyone who wants to discover the other side of the medical care.

This story is more than ‘for the ages,’ it is even deeper and kinder and more compassionate than Heller’s Catch 22 (til now, my favourite book ever).Shem’s weaving in and out, back and forth between the science and the sadists, the madness and the mayhem, the tragedy and hilarity of ‘healing’ is matched by the profound wisdom in his reflections on the human condition.A story that scarifies the scientistic bullshit of the clinical medical model, while offering hope to those who want to hold out for healthy human relationships and honest conversations.In an era of neoliberal compliance and accreditation creating ‘busy work’ in every field, this book bursts that whole balloon.EVEN MORE RELEVANT TODAY THAN WHEN IT WAS FIRST RELEASED

Ein Muss als Mediziner - beinhaltet viele Zitate, die man auch heute noch gängig verwendet (z.B. Gomer, orthopädische Höhe,…) auch wenn man deutlich merkt, dass es noch in einer ganz anderen Zeit geschrieben wurde, wo der Mann der Arzt war und die Frau die Krankenschwester.