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4.01 AVERAGE
4.01 AVERAGE
informative
reflective
fast-paced
I liked this one a whole lot. A Black emergency room physician alternates chapters describing the patients he sees with chapters examining the state of health care in the U.S. He is a hard working and compassionate doctor but can't even guarantee his own mother the sort of quality care he feels she deserves at his South-side Chicago hospital.. He concludes "I know that there cannot be justice in health or healthcare until there is justice in society." A very sobering look at a serious problem.
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
Fantastic book with compelling formatting. I think my main issue with this piece was perhaps not being the right audience—critiques of the medical systems involved seemed slightly obvious to me. I would recommend this book more to someone who's looking for a firsthand and compelling introduction to issues of racial and wealth disparity in medicine in the form of an incredibly thoughtful account from a doctor working in this system, but if you're looking for a deeper analysis and are more informed on these issues already I would probably check out a different book. I think this one is def on me for not understanding this book's intent & it is an incredibly powerful piece. I appreciated Fisher's vulnerability and transparency on all levels immensely.
This book is brilliant! As someone who is slightly obsessed with medical drama, and has also had to deal with the US healthcare system several times (and who has also witnessed firsthand how it really functions), and as someone who is currently studying to hopefully one day be a nurse this book really appealed to me. It’s the real life story of what it is like to work in the ER of a hospital in an underserved community, during a pandemic and also during “normal times”. Dr Thomas Fisher has 20 years of clinical practice and works in a hospital in the South Side of Chicago, where he treats the same people he grew up with, trying to help them in a system that restricts him (and everyone else) in so many ways.
The Emergency is structured in a way that allows Dr Fisher to walk us through shifts at the ER in one chapter, and then bring up many of the major issues plaguing the US healthcare system in the following chapter, in the form of a letter to a patient he treated in the previous chapter. Dr Fisher brings up systemic issues such as racism and segregation, where poor, Black people are made to wait for hours in chairs, while richer white people with good insurance are whisked through the ER as VIPs. But he also shows just how hard it is to actually help people when he only has 3 minutes to spend with each patient, and this leads to issues being missed or misdiagnosed. And overarching all of this he shows just how disconnected the government and policymakers are from the people they are meant to serve.
This book is just SO GOOD. And hopefully for many an eyeopener. A must read for everyone in my opinion!
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the advance copy in exchange for an honest review.
The Emergency is structured in a way that allows Dr Fisher to walk us through shifts at the ER in one chapter, and then bring up many of the major issues plaguing the US healthcare system in the following chapter, in the form of a letter to a patient he treated in the previous chapter. Dr Fisher brings up systemic issues such as racism and segregation, where poor, Black people are made to wait for hours in chairs, while richer white people with good insurance are whisked through the ER as VIPs. But he also shows just how hard it is to actually help people when he only has 3 minutes to spend with each patient, and this leads to issues being missed or misdiagnosed. And overarching all of this he shows just how disconnected the government and policymakers are from the people they are meant to serve.
This book is just SO GOOD. And hopefully for many an eyeopener. A must read for everyone in my opinion!
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the advance copy in exchange for an honest review.
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
A deeply-felt report on our unfair healthcare system, written by an ED doctor who continues to struggle to make it fair to those who don’t have the wherewithal to buy their comfort and survival
Powerful book. So many reactions to it. This is more than “a year in a chicago ER”. It’s a thoughtful and critical indictment of our healthcare system told through intimate stories and insights learned. It’s strange how long ago and unfamiliar early COVID now seems but the bigger and important stories about health inequity are stomach-churning.
Even more infuriating reading this juxtaposed to articles about NYU hospital and their preferential treatment as well as other non-profits expanding in affluent areas and leaving poorer areas unserved.
Even more infuriating reading this juxtaposed to articles about NYU hospital and their preferential treatment as well as other non-profits expanding in affluent areas and leaving poorer areas unserved.