About this title: This classic novel, first published in 1978, tells the story of an intern at a frantically busy urban hospital, and contains an introduction by John Updike.
Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is described below.
Description: Good. Shows some signs of wear, and may have some markings on the inside. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Description: Very Good. 0440133688 Mass Market Paperback, Condition: Very Good; this book is in very good condition with light curve to the spine / light reading creases to the covers. read more
Edition: 36th Printing
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: A Dell Book, New York
Date Published: 1978
ISBN-13:9780440133681ISBN:0440133688
Description: No Illustrations. Very Good. No Jacket. EX-LIBRARY. EXPECTED MARKINGS AND ATTACHMENTS. ILLUSTRATED PAPERBACK COVER, CORNERS LIGHTLY BUMPED. INTERIOR PAGES CLEAN, BRIGHT AND TIGHT. read more
Description: Very Good. 0440133688 Mass Market Paperback, Condition: Very Good; this book is in very good condition with light curve to the spine / light reading creases to the covers. read more
Description: Very Good. 0440133688 Mass Market Paperback, Condition: Very Good; this book is in very good condition with light discoloration due to aging and other light wear. read more
Description: Very Good. 0385337388 Paperback, Condition: Very Good; this book is in very good condition with light curve to the spine / light reading creases to the covers. read more
Description: Very Good. 0385337388 Paperback, Condition: Very Good; this book is in very good condition with light curve to the spine / light reading creases to the covers. read more
Description: Very Good. 0440133688 Mass Market Paperback, Condition: Very Good; this book is in very good condition with light curve to the spine / light reading creases to the covers. read more
Description: New. Orders placed after Dec. 7 cannot be guaranteed delivery before Christmas. GREAT BUY. Brand New From US Distributor. WE ARE A 5 STAR SELLER with OVER 3, 500, 000 BOOKS SOLD. read more
"You would ask yourself, if it's trully the reality of the modern medicine? Idealists would suffer.. The helper-souls don't have any place anymore in this modern capitalist machine-like medicine world.
I didn't really notice, that this book is "the classical" of anglo-american residents and medical students. Till I got to the clinic, and mostly some of ambitious residents would ask me, "Did you read House of God?"
I began reading it with no expectations, and I had to say, I did get the shivers. If the essence of the medicine has already taken a drastic course, becoming merely a profit-oriented business venture, than I would just hope, that I'd never be sick..
What is the point of having an excellent five-years-survival or even a 100-years-survival, if in the end human being will be just treated like a rotten meat with no soul?
And we really are going into that direction.. how sad.."
"Borrowed this book from the library. I'm thinking of buying my own copy. I would carry it around with me all the time and hand it to everyone who asks why I'm not studying to be a "real" doctor.
The sad thing is that this dehumanization (of self as well as others) does happen to far too many people, and not just in the medical profession. And most don't have the luck to have it pointed out to them forcibly enough not just that its happening, but that its a bad thing.
When people are forced into inhuman situations, how can they respond humanely?
"I said, 'You sound like a male chauvinist.' 'Me?' asked Fats, genuinely surprised. 'How?' 'You're saying women like Jo make lousy doctors because they're women.' 'Nope. I'm saying women like Jo make lousy people because they're doctors, just like some men do.'"
Reminded me quite a bit of Catch-22, but easier to read because the time-line is pretty much straightforward.
Would not recommend to anyone already depressed, or to anyone having a really good day who doesn't want it spoiled.
Would recommend to everyone who has to deal with the medical establishment."
""...the one truly great American Medical Invention: the creation of a foolproof system that took sincere energetic guys and with little effort turned them into dull, grandiose docs who could live with the horror of disease and the deceit of "cure", who could "go with" the public's fantasy of the right to perfect health devoid of even the deterioration of age..." Thus writes Roy Basch, MD, our narrator, upon concluding his internship at one of American's top hospitals. This book, written in 1978, was re-released in 2003, and does not feel dated one bit. I've worked in teaching hospitals most of my nursing career and I have seen this very "phenomena" that he refers to. Some of the antics (esp. the sexual ones) I can't say that I am familiar with or have been a part of, but overall, this book sums up medical training very well. It also helps explain why so many physicians seem cold or detached. Hopefully, as residency programs lighten up requirements for on call and training programs become more sensitive to bedside manner, things will change for the better. I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and am looking forward to reading the sequel."
"The House of God is a novel that follows the internship year of Dr. Roy Basch. Dr. Basch works in a hospital called the House of God and is mentored by his attending, affectionately known as The Fat Man. Samuel Shem, M.D., writes the novel and much of the slang jargon thrown around in hospitals today comes from this very book. Shem does a fantastic job of drawing the reader into the chaotic life of an intern weather you have some experience in this setting or none at all. He also illustrates well the often black humor many doctors and nurses use to get through the day so well that you can imagine yourself on the wards of the hospital joking along side the characters. The Fat Man, in the story, passes on to Dr. Basch the "laws of the House of God." He also advises him along the way that the only way to keep your sanity and psychological peace of mind throughout his internship is to break the official rules. The laws amount to thirteen by the end of the book and to this day are still quoted by many physicians and nurses in real-life hospital settings. Although cynical, dark, and at times pornographic, Shem's novel is often referred to as the "bible" for good reason. You can imagine that, perhaps a long time ago, a certain Dr. Shem served a chaotic year in The House of God."
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