White Coat Wisdom: Extraordinary Doctors Talk About What They Do, How They Got There and Why Medicine Is So Much More Than a Job

by Stephen J. Busalacchi

White Coat Wisdom is an award-winning oral history featuring extremely accomplished professionals who've found true fulfillment in life through service to others. It is the 2009 Winner of the Eric Hoffer Awards, in the Health category. This title endured rigorous judging and surpassed dozens of books within its category. It was also a 2009 Finalist for the Montaigne Literary Medal, awarded to the most thought-provoking titles. These are books that either illuminate, progress, or redirect thought. It also earned Finalist ranking for the 2009 Indie Awards. They recognize and honor the most exceptional independently published books in 60 different categories.

Genres: Medicine, Nonfiction

590 pages, Hardcover

First published June 21, 2008

Reviews

[La Crosse County Library · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review originally published April 2010

Chances are you know who “Brangelina” is and many details of the lives of other celebrities, but what do you know about the physicians to whom you entrust your health and your very life? Probably not much, because time spent with one’s doctor is virtually all business.

Doctors try to keep to a schedule, and that precludes much casual conversation in a typical office visit. So unless there’s a physician in your family or circle of friends, you really don’t know much about them.

You now have an opportunity to gain insight into lives of doctors in White Coat Wisdom: Extraordinary Doctors Talk About What They Do, How They Got There, And Why Medicine Is So Much More Than A Job by interviewer Stephen J. Busalacchi.

In their own words, 37 Wisconsin physicians relate true stories of defining moments in their lives. One doctor performed his own vasectomy, one works for no monetary compensation, and another discovered a treatment for eyelid cancer when he was just 16!

They admit to mistakes they have made and they speak of relating to families of dying patients. They also recall humorous times, such as when an elderly patient looked up as the doctor was doing a pelvic exam and said, “Does your mom know what you do all day?”

This is oral history at its best! Perhaps best of all, their stories are page-turner interesting.

Physicians go to school for a long time, and most have to repay a lot of money for student loans, so I don’t begrudge them high salaries and I don’t mind reading ancient magazines while I wait to be seen.

But I no longer see doctors as all-knowing and infallible. They are human and medicine is an art as well as a science. The personal stories in White Coat Wisdom do not deify physicians, but they do make readers appreciate the intense dedication to their profession that doctors consistently demonstrate.

If you know someone considering a life in medicine, I recommend White Coat Wisdom as essential reading. The stories are wonderful mini-memoirs and hard to put down once you start.

I love the book and so do professional reviewers:

"Doctor’s lives are always interesting, especially when the reader is allowed behind the curtain. ‘White Coat Wisdom’ is a good read for anyone, but of course of special interest to the growing number involved in health and medicine."

"To read this book is to get a fascinating peek underneath that white coat at the heart and soul of a doctor."

My prescription is that you check out this book and read 1 to 2 chapters 5 times daily. Do not stop until all chapters are read!

One of the doctors represented in this outstanding book is La Crosse’s own Dr. Dennis Costakos. He is, in fact, the physician who generously donated a copy to the library. Read his story first!

Find this book and other titles within our catalog.

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Stephen Busalacchi is a veteran medical journalist whose work has appeared on National Public radio and Wisconsin Public Radio. He is a former director of public relations for the Wisconsin Medical Society and is the owner of a health communications firm in Madison, Wisconsin. During his years at a health reporter for WPR, he met many physicians. His stories are the seeds for this book. Described in some reviews as an oral history, this large collection of interviews across many ages, types of practice, and specialties of Wisconsin physicians is a candid look inside the professions of thirty-five doctors who share their fascination, love, triumphs and despair with the author.

Busalacchi states in the introduction that he feels his book is something “everyone can relate to” and that everyone should have a trusting relationship with his doctor. “My goal was to personalize the profession” and let doctors tell their own stories. The interview style of asking questions and recording the responses doesn’t quite accomplish this purpose, but Busalacchi’s questions are interesting and the answers often enthralling.

I often include medical issues in my novels, and last year underwent major surgery with a spinal so I could experience as much of my procedure as they would allow. My open-minded surgeon answered my questions about what it was like in the operating room. If you prefer to hold your doctor at arm’s-length awe and have no desire to know how the magic happens, you won’t want to read this book. However, if you’re curious about things like how long it takes to get used to dissecting a cadaver, funky little rhymes about certain professors, the unspoken hierarchy of the different types of education and degrees, or why some current medical students choose their specialties, you’ll love it.

As a historian, I collect oral histories so I was particularly interested in the author’s style for this project. While Busalacchi obtained stunning and stellar endorsements, such as the cover copy from former US Surgeon General C. Everett Koop, MD, and the Eric Hoffer Award for Excellence in Independent Publishing, the few typos and inconsistent or misused punctuation is distracting. The author chose to use pencil drawings of his subjects instead of photographs.

Busalacchi tackles a huge and compelling topic. For readers of biography and medical issues, White Coat Wisdom is an inspiring and truly intriguing read.

Reviewed by Lisa J Lickel
http://lisalickel.com
author of the novels Healing Grace and Meander Scar
A copy of this book was provided by the author

[Katie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book, which consisted of a series of interviews with all kinds of doctors--different specialties, ages, personalities, etc., with the one similarity being that they currently or at some point have practiced in the Midwest (the location of the journalist author). Well, that and they all seem to love their jobs with a passion. I found it consistently interesting and inspiring. It was long, but I sort of wished it had been even longer.

You really get a sense for what it takes to get through medical school and residency, and that it's not for the faint of heart. There are laws now stating that residents cannot work more than 80 hour weeks or more than 30 hours in a single shift, which for the regular old office worker, seems like an extremely intense LOW limit--yet for these doctors, they almost seemed disparaging of it. You definitely have to be a workaholic.

I also enjoyed hearing about how some of them seemed to really connect with certain patients, which to me is sort of unheard of in our modern medical system. Even though I've had very good doctors in the past, I certainly haven't been able to spend enough time with them, nor forge a connection. But then I think a lot of those stories were from longer ago.

The stories covered a huge range of topics, which was great. There were doctors talking about our dysfunctional insurance system, doctors who lobbied for gay rights (it seems unrelated to medicine, but he was coming at it from the angle that this causes a lot of children to go uninsured--because their gay parents cannot get married and so sometimes they cannot get coverage), doctors who (impressively) work in end-of-life care and seem to love it, doctors who have come from wildly different pasts and other careers, etc. Every story was something different.

[Larry Coleman · Rating 3 out of 5]

It is what it says it is: a bunch of doctors telling their story of why they became a doctor, what it was like to become one, what it's like to be one, etc. The differing perspectives on the field and its rewards/challenges are interesting and together they give a good feel for what it's like to be a doctor. Some of them can be a little long-winded, while others don't get into much detail, but overall the compilation of first-person stories gives one a better idea of the field than a textbook-like approach would.

[Chi Dubinski · Rating 2 out of 5]

Author conducted oral interviews with dozens of doctors of assorted ages, gender, ethnic backgrounds. Falls short of a Studs Terkel book; could have used more editing or perhaps more focus in the interviews. Interesting to find out about the doctors experiences in school, and what their jobs currently entail.