On December 23, 2020, I received a book published on December 21, 2020. That, in itself, is pretty amazing; I have never received a book that close to publication before. The book is by John Lawrence and apparently is the first of a planned four-volume set. This one is titled, "Playing Doctor."
It is a very funny, easy-to-read book about the foibles of him becoming a physician, quite unlike any other story I have read - and I have read many. He never wanted to go to med school, never took the required classes, and never focused on it until it all changed for him. The story of that change is what this book is about.
This post is about my own interest in medical training and the disappointment that nothing ever came of it.
My continued interest as a 70-Something is confirmation that I, too, should have become a medical professional. I never wanted to go to med school or be called "Doctor;" I was thankful that the physician assistant (PA) profession had been invented by Eugene A. Stead, MD, and the first class of four Navy corpsmen would enter the same university in 1965 that I eventually started, Duke University, thus opening the door to later candidates like me.
One of my biggest regrets was not finishing the program. Funny thing about that: Duke seemed to want me to pay for it upfront at the same time then-President Reagan decided that student loans were a bad thing and had his Secretary of Education at the time, William Bennett, work on cutting funding. He was successful and you can see how those two factors might clash. That I was unable to continue is one of the regrets I live with to this day.
It is also probably the reason I keep reading books about medical training, physicians, and why PAs remain my provider-of-choice when I have one. I also like physicians who have a sense of humor. John Lawrence, MD, is one of them. I highly recommend the book.
