Reviews/Books

“The House of God”
by Samuel Shem
Reviewed by: Gundula

I guess this is the “first medical year” novel.

We follow DR Bash as he enters the House of God on July 1st all the way until he is released a year later.
In between we encounter patients and doctors, see how DR Bash deals with the hierarchy in this most important of all hospitals, builds relationships with colleagues and nursing staff and watch him treat his patients.

The latter consists mainly of doing nothing to avoid actively killing these people. His colleagues, he rarely ever sees because one of them is always on call and the ones that are not are trying to recover from their nights in hospital. His relations with the nurses are mainly sexual in nature and the system is something he quickly realizes he can’t beat but instead chooses to ignore.

 The reader witnesses the different coping strategies the young interns develop, spanning from tranquilizer dependancy to sheer madness to suicide.

People currently in the medical profession will shake their heads and wonder why things in hospital today are still like they were at the beginning of the 70’s of the last century when the book is set. Everybody else might begin to wonder just who it is that is treating them and for how long he or she has been awake or been on call at this point.

Both will find this book hilariously funny and will appreciate DR Bashes struggle to remain human against all odds.

This is a book that  should be mandatory reading for everyone who considers entering the medical profession.

About the Author
Samuel Shem is a pseudonym for Stephen Bergman, MD, The author graduated magna cum laude from Harvard and is now on the faculty of Harvard Medical School and the Stone Centre, Wellesley College. top of page

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