All physicians have unique experiences as medical students and residents, but some memories of medical education are universal: camaraderie, miraculous cures, unexpected deaths, inspiring attendings, and on-call terrors. Plenty of pages have been printed on the topic of what it feels like to train as a physician. The latest entry to this genre is Becoming a Doctor: From Student to Specialist, Doctor-Writers Share Their Experiences.
Despite a rather uninspiring introduction to the text, most of the 19 personal narratives are solid. There is the obligatory recollection of a medical student's encounter with a cadaver. There is the occasional unexpected scenario, such as an obstetrical resident sued for medical malpractice by a patient he briefly examined at the start of his training. Four of these mini-autobiographies are exemplary.