Title: Between Expecations: Lessons from Pediatric Residency
Author: Meghan Weir
Published: Simon and Schuster March 2011
Sypnosis: When Dr. Meghan Weir first dons her scrubs and steps onto the floor of Children’s Hospital Boston as a newly minted resident, her head is packed with medical-school-textbook learning. She knows the ins and outs of the human body, has memorized the correct way to perform hundreds of complicated procedures, and can recite the symptoms of any number of diseases by rote. But none of that has truly prepared her for what she is about to experience. From the premature infants Dr. Weir is expected to care for on her very first day of residency to the frustrating teenagers who visit the ER at three in the morning for head colds, each day brings with it new challenges and new lessons. Dr. Weir learns that messiness, fear, and uncertainty live beneath the professional exterior of the doctor’s white coat. Yet, in addition to the hardships, the practice of medicine comes with enormous rewards of joy, camaraderie, and the triumph of healing.
Status: Read from March 11 to 12, 2011 — I own a copy
My Thoughts:
I am strangely fascinated by these type of books by medical professionals (and almost as equally addicted to shows like ER, House and Private Practice). Between Expectations is Meghan Weir’s story of her residency in pediatrics, her struggle with the losses and triumphs as she cares for sick newborns and dying children.
Modern medicine is a miracle but still there is so much that cannot be answered or treated, where death or survival defies explanation. I think that in the pediatrics ward that endless struggle between despair and hope must be amplified. Meghan shares the stories of some of her patients and their families. These tales are heartbreaking if you imagine a tumour wrapping around your childs heart, or the joy of a remission from cancer only for an unrelated infection to steal their mind. In those cases Meghan’s shares of recovery the outcomes are usually ambiguous, the victories are small and quiet.
I think perhaps the book lacks some warmth, Meghan’s tone tends to be more clinical than compassionate. I wonder how the birth of her own child will affect the relationships she builds with parents and her patients. I imagine that from Meghan’s perspective tragedy is far more common that joy but I, particularly as a parent reading the book, would like at least one story of unbridled triumph, a miracle of sorts. Unrealistic perhaps, but I want to believe the possibility exists.
The training for residents is punishing and the ridiculous demands made on medical trainees in this day and age is clearly illustrated. I can see no reason for requiring 30 hour shifts in a field where a moment of inattention due to fatigue could kill someone. I cannot understand, nor condone, any justification for those conditions. Meghan’s story emphasises the disconnect that results from such a consuming schedule, from patients, partners and family and even herself.
Between Expectations is an intriguing memoir, it has none of the glamour of Grey’s Anatomy, but is a very personal and raw exploration of the personal and professional commitment required to become a doctor. While it lacks a spirit of optimism, it is reassuring in its way, that should you find yourself in a pediatrics ward with your child, that everyone will be doing all they can.
Book’d Out 