Back in April I stumbled on an awesome medical memoir called Playing Doctor Part Two: Residency By John Lawrence. I wrote all about it in a medical mash up blog post you can check out, especially if you want to hear about a few other medical books I've read in 2022. But back to the Playing Doctor series, as I was saying, I stumbled upon the second book in the instalment thanks to NetGalley and really enjoyed it. If there is one thing John Lawrence does well, it's making you want to read the prequel and sequel really badly. So here is my first piece of advice: Read Part 1 first. (duh.) But unfortunately, the way NetGalley works is you have to choose books that you think you want to read, sometimes they are the first in a series, sometimes the last and if you happened to request a copy of the first book in the series if/when it was posted on NetGalley, great, but chances are you missed it and your options are 1) give up on the series 2) buy the first book(s) on your own 3) dive in midway through. Since I am clearly addicted to reading, I usually go with option 3 and work my way back to 1 or 2 depending on what I thought of book 1 because there are way too many books out there to buy ones I wont like and will never read.
Even still, Part 2 was fantastic. I added Part 1 to my amazon wishlist, I even had a birthday (!?) but David said "all your wishlist stuff was about teaching" (he has a point, but not ALL of it!) so I figured oh well, I'll buy part 1 one day. Then the craziest thing happened. Part 3 was posted on NetGalley. I requested it and got it! So I read part 3 and by the time I was almost done I decided that since I had read 2/3 of the series for free John Lawrence and his people deserve the $4.99 for my kindle edition of part 1. In fact, they deserve a lot more, which is why I'm posting this review - in hopes you'll buy a copy too! Since I'm assuming you'll read like a normal human being and start will book 1 I will too, but this post will have reviews and highlights of all three books, feel free to read them however you want to!
Playing Doctor Part 1: Medical School: Stumbling Through With Amnesia
This first book in the series tells the story of how John got into medicine, a career he is not sold on at any point in his training. He shares the adventures he took after graduating college, some of the challenges he faced trying to make it in California, and the difficult process of taking pre-med classes and actually entering med school at a time when Clooney was attracting all ER fans to a career wearing scrubs. The first few chapters focus on year 1 and 2 of med school, a time when John is recovering from a traumatic head injury and can barely stay awake, much less retain any information during his lectures. He really did have amnesia!
The following chapters are similar in format to the rest of the series, each chapter focuses on a period of time (usually 4-8 weeks) and a particular rotation or type of medicine. This formatting is great because it allows readers to keep track of time chronologically and all of the content of that chapter is related to one area of medicine. As John finds his footing in new hospital or department, you as a reader also learn along with him and by the end of the chapter you feel like you have an idea what is going on, and just like John, you're thrown into a whole new situation as each chapter/rotation ends and a new one begins.
My favourite story from this book was when John was called in to his Psychiatry medical rotation on the evening of a big basketball game. He describes how he went onto the ward and the patients were all watching the game, and when he made a comment about a bad call or a foul the patients all started getting agitated and agreeing with him, repeating strange phrases and moving around frantically. John's descriptions made it so easy to follow what was happening and imagine each of these unusual patients. Then he went downstairs to the ER to admit a patient and realized that the patient was someone he had previously seen on the ward who had just been discharged. The patient was rambling about maybe having killed someone at a bar and how there was potentially a dead body in his truck, though he wasn't sure either way. John's descriptions of how he spoke to the security guard, the patient and his supervisor all throughout this situation were hilarious and it was so easy to picture. In the end, the patient did not kill anyone, but it was quite a bizarre story and is a perfect example of the hilarity and detailed descriptions that are common throughout the series.
I really connected with John in this book. I did not have amnesia during my training in education, thankfully, but his first year of med school reminded me of my first degree: a whole lot of random information that I shoved inside my brain and promptly forgot after the bubble exam. His second year when he was wandering around cardiology struggling to understand the fellow with the strong accent and assuming that at some point someone would teach him how to do a history and physical (H&P) properly was just like my first semester of Education. We were told to write a ton of lesson plans, which is to teaching as a H&P is medicine, yet not told anything about how to actually do them... then we showed up with real little people, lesson plans that we some how thought up and were told "ok teach". I wanted to shout out "how am I supposed to know how long it takes a six year old to glue something?" (to be honest, I still don't know the answer to that question, but a long time. It takes six year olds a long time to do literally everything except make a giant mess). Did anyone teach John how to do a proper H&P? No. Did anyone teach me how to do a proper lesson plan? No. But we both figured it out. Kind of.
Playing Doctor Part Two: Residency (Blundering Along with Imposter Syndrome)
I loved Playing Doctor, Part 2 by John Lawrence! I love a good memoir and this one was a perfect fit for me. Lawrence's witty descriptions of many aspects of the challenges he faced as a new resident are both hilarious and eye opening as he gives you an inside view of what it is like to work in a hospital. I enjoyed learning about all of the things that drive doctors crazy, such as just not getting to the point of why you are in the appointment, as well as the amount of training and education it takes to be able to be proficient in the art of medicine.
As I said earlier, I read this one before part 1, and I eventually found that it seemed fairly easy to follow even though I missed his whole medical school memoir. Reading them out of order isn't out of the question as Lawrence gives lots of details to fill you in one what you might have missed, as needed.
Overall, this is a really funny and interesting memoir that gives readers a chance to peek into the medical world with all of the fun and lack of stress that we non medical professionals are able to enjoy on a regular basis. I so appreciate Netgalley and the publisher for giving me the opportunity to read and review this delightful book!
Playing Doctor Part 3: Chief Resident: Fumbling Towards Medical Practice
I was definitely very excited when I saw this book was coming out. After hearing all about John's experiences in the first two years of residency, I couldn't wait to find out how things ended off in his final year! John is definitely not the kind of doctor who came out of the womb holding his own scalpel declaring his plans of a future in medicine. He's quite the opposite, someone who questioned this career choice constantly throughout his training. So more than just wanting to know what crazy stories he had from year 3, I also just really wanted to answer the question: "Does he become a doctor?"
If you haven't read the first two books, I highly recommend reading them in order, despite the fact that John does a wonderful job catching readers up on things they might have missed or forgotten from the tales earlier in the series. It is definitely possible to read them out of order (I did) but I think reading them in order would have been a nice way to enjoy the journey the way he did; over the course of 7 years and 3 books! Similar to the first two books, this book is divided into months or rotations. Each chapter covers a different medical theme, usually related to a section of medicine, for example: obstetrics, family practice or emergency medicine. I love this set up because it is both theme based and also chronological. It is easy to navigate and feels like you are following the calendar year along with him. Also like the first two books, John uses his sense of humour and his strong teaching skills to write in a way that is both entertaining and informative. You will learn lots about the ins and outs of medicine (and what you do that drives your doctors crazy) while also hearing about the craziest situations and the silliest outcomes. He makes a connection with his readers and reminds them that even some of the most brilliant minds in medicine have no clue what is going on sometimes (though they might not admit it).
What sets this book apart from its prequels, is that we start to really see John's growth as a doctor, we see him stepping into roles like Chief Resident where he is scaring (I mean inspiring!) young doctors out of family medicine and into the roles of their dreams, really finding his own on the labour and delivery deck, and commenting on how far he came over the last 7 years. We see patients who return to see him multiple times throughout the year and we get a glimpse of what he really is like as a doctor, rather than a scared student who has no clue what is going on. Another awesome advantage to part 3 is we get a bit of commentary about the pandemic and how much medicine has changed since John started Med school in the 90s!
This book was slightly more repetitive than the other two, I think for a couple of reasons. First, it was the last book in the series and as I previously mentioned, John does a really great job of catching readers up on what happened in the past, as a result, the third book would have more things to review. Second, I think that because this book covered the shortest amount of time (book 1 was med school - 4 years, book 2 was intern and second year of residency - 2 years) he needed to fill a bit with some of the stories he missed or left out of in his first two books, or other stories from the rest of his time as a doctor (and actor - no spoilers here! You'll have to read yourself to find out what happens after graduation!). Despite it being slightly more repetitive, I still really enjoyed it and am glad I got to finish off the series.
What a fabulous way to end off an amazing series! I really enjoyed all of John's stories (except is rotation in ophthalmology - I skipped that section in book 2 since I have a massive fear of eyes). I'm not sure what the future holds for John Lawrence now, but if he does write more, you can bet I'll be first in line to grab a copy, especially if it winds up on NetGalley first!