Joseph Nader

The Price to Be a Doctor: Memoirs of a Medical Student Joseph Nader

He tells the story of a young boy who loses his father at the age of 9. He wanted to study medicine, but his uncle was against it because medicine was a long and difficult profession. He managed to succeed and entered medical school, graduating with honors. Those were years of intense socio-political turmoil, almost twice losing his life. He recalls his experiences as a teenager, college student, and as an intern and resident. Times were then different. How things have changed since in the medical field. His first encounter with death was an unforgettable experience. Despite his desperate therapeutic measures he couldn't save his patient's life. He understood what the 'raison d'etre' was: To conquer it. Death was almost everywhere. Each day someone died. He seemed to become acquainted with and he no longer feared it. He came to accept it, not as a tragedy, but rather as one of life's unavoidable facts. He describes the emotions of his first operation, the thrill of feeling like a real surgeon under the scrutinizing look of the astonished anesthesiologist and the skepticisim and worries of the Reverend Mother OR nurse supervisor. The former surprised at his courage, the latter concerned about the fetus. He not only performed his operation with success, but also his first and last baptism. Disillusioned, he abandoned his country to face new challenges and difficulties in America. He wasn't sure if the price paid to study medicine justified all his efforts. The book is an example of the tenacity and dedication of a foreign physician pursuing an uncertain future. A formidable lesson for a new generation of medical students.