Playing Doctor From the Boards to the Wards

There is no shortage of published work centered on the medical profession, but there is a reason why much of it is not written by medical students during medical school-it's a bit hectic...or more like completely crazy, really. It is not the case that Dr. Sandsmark is smarter than her peers, that she uses her time more efficiently, or that she had totally different experiences than the average medical student. No, it is more that she found her experiences in medical school so personally influential and transformative that she felt compelled to share them with the rest of the world in an honest, and often exceptionally vulnerable, personal narrative. While there is plenty to say about all four years of medical school, her memoir primarily focuses on the third year, when students are busy with clinical rotations. It is during this time that medical students transition from rigorous (but predictable) coursework to tumultuous (and unpredictable) clinical work. Medical textbooks can teach students many things, but they cannot prepare them to comfort a panicked family member, manage a frustrated and disruptive patient, or witness their first death. Readers will accompany Dr. Sandsmark as she attempts to counsel patients and families she is not yet ready to counsel and treat patients she is not yet fully trained to treat. Her drive to gain her new patients' trust, and the situations this places her in, will have readers turning page after page. While medical details are not skirted, the book is largely an account of a medical student's life, one that offers the type of fresh outlook on medicine that only a doctor in training can provide. Her narrative is crafted through colorful descriptions of her hopes, fears, dreams, and struggles. It is sincere and insightful throughout, although frequently humorous and light-hearted. Join her to discover why medical students feel as if they are just "playing doctor" and why the transition from the "boards to the wards" is a life-changing experience. Although of particular interest to medical students, past, present, and future, the book will appeal to anyone interested in the challenges required to succeed in a high-pressure field like medicine.