Book Review: In Stitches

          I got In Stitches by Anthony Youn for Christmas.  Up until now, any reading I have done related to medical school has been aimed at getting in.  Now that I have an acceptance, I want to get an idea of what the hell I'm getting myself into.

          In that regard, I actually feel like I am well behind most other pre-meds.  It seems like all other pre-meds either have a parent who is a doctor or a long line of relatives who are doctors, and these students have some idea of what the whole process is like.  In my family, it'll just be me, and I have no idea what the hell is coming next.

          I have mixed feelings about the book.  I thought the first half was pretty disappointing.  Literally the first hundred pages were concerned with his troubles with girls, and I have to say... I just didn't care.  Also, his thoughts on his jaw surgery were remarkably brief, which was disappointing.  As a doctor who would go on to become a plastic surgeon, I had hoped he would share more thoughts on his own time under the knife.

          The book really picked up, though, once he arrived in medical school.  He spent a large chapter describing each year of school and the experiences he had during that time.  You can see how he reacts to the different courses and the ways they are structured.  You can follow him in his effort to balance work with a social life, and you can get the inside scoop on just how hard the workload is.  You also get to see what it's like for a third year student to be thrust into the rotations.

          It was informative.  Some of my greater fears turned out to be true.  I don't want to sound like a bum or a jock or anything, but I am not the nerdy type.  I try to balance work and play with more emphasis on the play side of things.  I'm also a frat boy to the bone.  Unfortunately, once the medical school part of the book arrived, Youn was quick to inform the reader that med school partying is a myth and that the workload is crushing.  In fact, despite the fact he has been a very hard worker his entire life and an excellent studier, the workload almost managed to break him.  Honestly, I have to admit that kind of rattled my hopes for the life I'll live these next four years.  He also told the reader that all the students are nerdy, even if they pretend not to be, and the only ones who aren't all become orthopaedic surgeons.  Damn.

          I was also interested in Youn's experiences with the clerkships and how they helped him to determine what specialty he wants to go into.  I have no idea what specialty I want to do.  I hope that when I get to med school I have an "aha!" momeny at some point, and then I'll know what my specialty will be.  Through his clerkships, Youn slowly was able to determine why different specialties were attractive or not - based on both medical and lifestyle reasons - and how he ultimately made his decision.

          Unfortunately, Youn's experiences seem to indicate that the totem pole effect is alive and well in medicine.  I don't understand why established doctors feel the need to essentially haze younger doctors who are just trying to learn, but I guess that's still just the way things work.  It can't be worse than frat hazing... can it?

          It was during Youn's med school years that the humorous aspects of the book really came alive.  Prior to that, I felt like he was trying too hard to work humor in, tossing in mediocre jokes that you feel like your supposed to laugh at but just can't.  Once he is in the hospital, though, the book becomes a legitimately funny.  Even his romantic misshaps start to become a little more entertaining too.

          Overall, I enjoyed reading the book, and I would recommend it to other pre-meds.  It is a moderately entertaining read, but its real values lies in what you can learn about the medical school experience.  I'll be working on House of God next.