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Object Lessons
Doctor
Object Lessons is a series of short, beautifully designed books about the hidden lives of ordinary things.
A 3-year-old asks her physician father about his job, and his inability to provide a succinct and accurate answer inspires a critical look at the profession of modern medicine.
In sorting through how patients, insurance companies, advertising agencies, filmmakers, and comedians misconstrue a doctor's role, Andrew Bomback, M.D., realizes that even doctors struggle to define their profession. As the author attempts to unravel how much of doctoring is role-playing, artifice, and bluffing, he examines the career of his father, a legendary pediatrician on the verge of retirement, and the health of his infant son, who is suffering from a vague assortment of gastrointestinal symptoms.
At turns serious, comedic, analytical, and confessional, Doctor offers an unflinching look at what it means to be a physician today.
Object Lessons is published in partnership with an essay series in The Atlantic.
A 3-year-old asks her physician father about his job, and his inability to provide a succinct and accurate answer inspires a critical look at the profession of modern medicine.
In sorting through how patients, insurance companies, advertising agencies, filmmakers, and comedians misconstrue a doctor's role, Andrew Bomback, M.D., realizes that even doctors struggle to define their profession. As the author attempts to unravel how much of doctoring is role-playing, artifice, and bluffing, he examines the career of his father, a legendary pediatrician on the verge of retirement, and the health of his infant son, who is suffering from a vague assortment of gastrointestinal symptoms.
At turns serious, comedic, analytical, and confessional, Doctor offers an unflinching look at what it means to be a physician today.
Object Lessons is published in partnership with an essay series in The Atlantic.
176 pages, Paperback
First published September 20, 2018
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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
October 28, 2018
Part of the Bloomsbury Object Lessons series, this is a wide-ranging look at what it’s like to be a doctor. Bomback, a kidney specialist, is by no means the only medical professional in his family: his wife is also a doctor, and his father, fast approaching retirement, is the kind of old-fashioned, reassuring pediatrician who knows everything. Even the author’s young daughter likes playing with a stethoscope and deciding what’s wrong with her dolls. In a sense, then, Bomback uses fragments of family memoir to compare the past, present and likely future of medicine. He also documents his personal run-ins with healthcare: temporary infertility, being in the delivery room for his two children, and trying to get a handle on his son’s allergies.
The short chapters range from doctor jokes and work–life balance to the dangers of self-diagnosis and over-communication with patients – many doctors now give out a mobile phone number so patients can text them at any hour. The most poignant aspect of the book for me was the way his father is being pushed out of his beloved career, mostly by technology and new working methods that involve more admin and less face-to-face time with patients. I’m not convinced the book is generic or representative enough (especially outside the U.S. context) to be a part of this series, though, and it does at times feel like bits of disparate material bunched together.
The short chapters range from doctor jokes and work–life balance to the dangers of self-diagnosis and over-communication with patients – many doctors now give out a mobile phone number so patients can text them at any hour. The most poignant aspect of the book for me was the way his father is being pushed out of his beloved career, mostly by technology and new working methods that involve more admin and less face-to-face time with patients. I’m not convinced the book is generic or representative enough (especially outside the U.S. context) to be a part of this series, though, and it does at times feel like bits of disparate material bunched together.
May 10, 2018
Andrew Bomback's Doctor is part of the Object Lessons Series. The idea for the book came about after Bomback's three-year-old daughter asked him about his job, 'and his inability to provide a succinct and accurate answer inspire[d] a critical look at the profession of modern medicine'. I liked the premise here, and found the narrative engaging from the beginning. Bomback discusses many facts about being a doctor - how the profession has changed from his father's early career, the unrealistic ways in which doctors are portrayed on television, frustrating cases, 'doctor jokes', how technology has changed the ways in which patients and healthcare professionals interact, and the trials and tribulations of working in the US healthcare system. I found it particularly fascinating to view the patient experience from a different side. Bomback's account feels very honest, as well as empathetic and touching. He makes one realise that he is constantly aware of his own limitations in his profession, and of his profession.
December 15, 2018
Thank you Bloomsbury Academic and Netgalley for this ARC.
I am on a bit of a Medical reading run at the moment and this book enhance this experience.
I enjoyed reading about this doctor, his familial experience within the medical field, personal anecdotes and frustrations within the field.
I highly recommend this book, especially if Yiu love learning more about the profession.
I am on a bit of a Medical reading run at the moment and this book enhance this experience.
I enjoyed reading about this doctor, his familial experience within the medical field, personal anecdotes and frustrations within the field.
I highly recommend this book, especially if Yiu love learning more about the profession.
September 18, 2022
A quick read and an interesting story, I recommend this pocket-sized paperback for just about anyone who wants a new perspective on ordinarily prominent figures in our daily lives.
Dr. Bomback dives deeply into the medical culture and the complexity of doctoring itself, and does it all in well-written and engaging prose. The way he answers such a simple question (his three-year-old daughter asking him what it is he really does) with so many specific details shows the true intricacy of this somewhat ordinary profession. Few people actually think about what it is that their doctors really do, and I believe that questioning opportunity is something interesting and enjoyable to read, especially when written from the perspective of someone who has been immersed in this mysterious microcosm since childhood. I highly recommend!
Dr. Bomback dives deeply into the medical culture and the complexity of doctoring itself, and does it all in well-written and engaging prose. The way he answers such a simple question (his three-year-old daughter asking him what it is he really does) with so many specific details shows the true intricacy of this somewhat ordinary profession. Few people actually think about what it is that their doctors really do, and I believe that questioning opportunity is something interesting and enjoyable to read, especially when written from the perspective of someone who has been immersed in this mysterious microcosm since childhood. I highly recommend!
May 14, 2018
Full review can be found at https://achronicreader.wordpress.com/...
I received a digital ARC of this book from Bloomsbury Academic via NetGalley
This is one of the best “medical memoir/essays” I have read in recent years. As a patient with a chronic illness, I’ve encountered many doctors in my years and have always been fascinated with books on the occupation. This book is different than most in this genre, in that Andrew Bomback is an incredibly accessible writer. He writes in an easy and conversational tone that makes you want to keep reading. Additionally, I loved this book because Bomback is honest about his profession and the inner workings of his self-doubt. He doesn’t aggrandize the profession, like other books I’ve read, and he really nails down what it means to be a doctor in this era.
Bomback was spurred to write this book in response to a situation when his 3-year old daughter asked him about his job and he could not come up with a succinct and accurate description. As a result, this books discusses the misconceptions we have from media about the profession and attempts to unravel the many facets of a doctor’s role, while also including personal stories along the way. Bomback shares his aging father’s (also a doctor) struggle with the increase in medical technology demands, his infant son’s health issues, his views on why doctors love “doctor jokes” and the lost art of the physical exam among other things.
This book was a fairly quick read, did not have an abundance of medical terminology and changed my perspective on what it’s like to be a doctor and parent (hint: it doesn’t always mean the parent is never around, as is often portrayed).
The one thing that stopped me from giving this book 5/5 was the confusion I felt when conversations with the author’s young daughter written in a mix of Spanish and English. As a non-Spanish speaker, these sentences confused me and I felt I lost a lot of the meaning in those important conversations and revelations of a 3-year-old. The author discusses how they are raising their children bilingually (his wife, Xenia, is a native Spanish speaker) which is great, but non-Spanish speakers really missed out when the conversations were portrayed in Spanish without translation.
Overall, I loved this book and I recommend it to anyone looking for an accurate, easy to understand insight into what it means to be a doctor.
I received a digital ARC of this book from Bloomsbury Academic via NetGalley
This is one of the best “medical memoir/essays” I have read in recent years. As a patient with a chronic illness, I’ve encountered many doctors in my years and have always been fascinated with books on the occupation. This book is different than most in this genre, in that Andrew Bomback is an incredibly accessible writer. He writes in an easy and conversational tone that makes you want to keep reading. Additionally, I loved this book because Bomback is honest about his profession and the inner workings of his self-doubt. He doesn’t aggrandize the profession, like other books I’ve read, and he really nails down what it means to be a doctor in this era.
Bomback was spurred to write this book in response to a situation when his 3-year old daughter asked him about his job and he could not come up with a succinct and accurate description. As a result, this books discusses the misconceptions we have from media about the profession and attempts to unravel the many facets of a doctor’s role, while also including personal stories along the way. Bomback shares his aging father’s (also a doctor) struggle with the increase in medical technology demands, his infant son’s health issues, his views on why doctors love “doctor jokes” and the lost art of the physical exam among other things.
This book was a fairly quick read, did not have an abundance of medical terminology and changed my perspective on what it’s like to be a doctor and parent (hint: it doesn’t always mean the parent is never around, as is often portrayed).
The one thing that stopped me from giving this book 5/5 was the confusion I felt when conversations with the author’s young daughter written in a mix of Spanish and English. As a non-Spanish speaker, these sentences confused me and I felt I lost a lot of the meaning in those important conversations and revelations of a 3-year-old. The author discusses how they are raising their children bilingually (his wife, Xenia, is a native Spanish speaker) which is great, but non-Spanish speakers really missed out when the conversations were portrayed in Spanish without translation.
Overall, I loved this book and I recommend it to anyone looking for an accurate, easy to understand insight into what it means to be a doctor.
June 20, 2018
Thank you, NetGalley, for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for my honest review.
An interesting look at the changes in what it means to be a doctor through the lens of a doctor, who has the multiple identities of being son/husband/sibling to doctors.
The Dr. Bomback to whom the author frequently referred was not himself nor his orthopedist brother, but rather their pediatrician father who is struggling with the practice of medicine in the 21st century, yet manages to use his iPhone as a heart rate monitor. Of particular interest to me was how the author and his wife struggled as parents and doctors in the world of medicine as it related to their children, especially their youngest who had some medical issues. They opted not to see the author's father - but one of the younger partners in his father's practice, a decision the son/author seemed to struggle with especially when some patients sought him out on the heels of his father's reputation.
An interesting subplot was the author and his wife's decision to raise bilingual children (Spanish/English) and how the author struggled to communicate not only with his SPanish speaking patients, but sometimes his own three year old daughter.
Not exactly what I expected from this book, but a very good read.
An interesting look at the changes in what it means to be a doctor through the lens of a doctor, who has the multiple identities of being son/husband/sibling to doctors.
The Dr. Bomback to whom the author frequently referred was not himself nor his orthopedist brother, but rather their pediatrician father who is struggling with the practice of medicine in the 21st century, yet manages to use his iPhone as a heart rate monitor. Of particular interest to me was how the author and his wife struggled as parents and doctors in the world of medicine as it related to their children, especially their youngest who had some medical issues. They opted not to see the author's father - but one of the younger partners in his father's practice, a decision the son/author seemed to struggle with especially when some patients sought him out on the heels of his father's reputation.
An interesting subplot was the author and his wife's decision to raise bilingual children (Spanish/English) and how the author struggled to communicate not only with his SPanish speaking patients, but sometimes his own three year old daughter.
Not exactly what I expected from this book, but a very good read.
June 21, 2018
I read an advanced reading copy from Bloomsbury Academic via NetGalley. Thanks!
I have read a number of “a day in the life of” type books, including many that focus on medical professions. In general, they are comprised of a series of stories about cases or situations that the author has experienced, and give the reader a bit of insight into some of the more interesting situations that the author has faced. As a child I devoured all of James Herriot’s books, and they still remain a shining example of this genre to me.
That was what I was expecting from this little book, but what I read was quite different, and I enjoyed it. Although this book is definitely full of insight into a physicians daily experiences, it is more focused on how medicine has changed with the advent of electronic record keeping, how the author feels about his particular role in the lives of his patients, his struggles knowing how to communicate bad news to his patients, and how difficult it can be to cope with a health crisis in your family, even when you are a practicing physician yourself.
This is a much richer and more personal insight into what “a day in the life” is like for this particular physician, and I appreciated his willingness to share with his readers.
I have read a number of “a day in the life of” type books, including many that focus on medical professions. In general, they are comprised of a series of stories about cases or situations that the author has experienced, and give the reader a bit of insight into some of the more interesting situations that the author has faced. As a child I devoured all of James Herriot’s books, and they still remain a shining example of this genre to me.
That was what I was expecting from this little book, but what I read was quite different, and I enjoyed it. Although this book is definitely full of insight into a physicians daily experiences, it is more focused on how medicine has changed with the advent of electronic record keeping, how the author feels about his particular role in the lives of his patients, his struggles knowing how to communicate bad news to his patients, and how difficult it can be to cope with a health crisis in your family, even when you are a practicing physician yourself.
This is a much richer and more personal insight into what “a day in the life” is like for this particular physician, and I appreciated his willingness to share with his readers.
June 11, 2018
A collection of loosely assembled anecdotes, only approximately half of which hit the defined parameters. Bomback raises a number of important points; these points would be a fine jumping-off point for a more worthy text, but he leaves them suspended where they bubble up. I'm certainly not opposed to the integration of the personal into the sociocultural critique, but this was not so much a variation on the classic personal-is-political as simply mired in the mundane. I have not yet encountered Bomback's writing previously, but by his own admission, much of the work appeared previously in publication elsewhere; I wonder, then, if it was the process of patching together the piecemeal narrative that engendered this lack of success. Ultimately, these are forgivable sins: the writing just wasn't sublime enough to make you disregard its drawbacks.
With thanks to NetGalley and Bloomsbury Academic for an advanced reader’s copy.
With thanks to NetGalley and Bloomsbury Academic for an advanced reader’s copy.
October 30, 2018
They’re very variable, the books in the Object Lessons series, and this one didn’t really work for me. The author reflects on being a doctor, the evolving style of doctoring and how there have been so many changes in what is expected from doctors. He compares his own career with his father’s, and explores how doctors cope when faced with illness in their own families. It’s more of a collection of anecdotes and personal reminiscences rather than a sustained narrative, and I would have enjoyed a more objective exploration of what it means to be a doctor. Nevertheless, it’s a reasonably interesting read, if a little self-indulgent.
November 15, 2018
Full disclosure: I am friends with the author.
This work is a pleasant meander through the “real” world of being a doctor, which turns out to be vastly different from the depictions we see in movies, on TV, or in our own imaginations. Bomback is at his best when depicting his personal life: how he and his wife tackle their son’s mysterious ailment: his relationship with his inquisitive daughter; the rewards and challenges of being married to a fellow doctor. With pathos, honesty and humor, Bomback peels the onion of the doctor stereotype, revealing both joy and ambivalence about his chosen profession.
This work is a pleasant meander through the “real” world of being a doctor, which turns out to be vastly different from the depictions we see in movies, on TV, or in our own imaginations. Bomback is at his best when depicting his personal life: how he and his wife tackle their son’s mysterious ailment: his relationship with his inquisitive daughter; the rewards and challenges of being married to a fellow doctor. With pathos, honesty and humor, Bomback peels the onion of the doctor stereotype, revealing both joy and ambivalence about his chosen profession.
May 12, 2018
This series is chock full of books, successful or otherwise, that give a specialist's eye view on something unexpectedly interesting to the layman. This, however, in being full of autobiography, anecdote and personal observation, and clearly about a vital subject, didn't make me think the book was interesting to the layman. I felt it needed a specific medical interest to get anything out of it beyond a few chin-stroking reflections.
July 4, 2018
Thank you NetGalley and Bloomsbury Academic for the advanced copy!
Reading this became a bit of a slog for me. I was interested in the topic given that I work in healthcare, but it didn't feel like it lived to the description that it would set straight what the doctor's role in medicine really is. I was also thrown off by the Spanish: it felt unnecessary to the book to have these untranslated discussions. It was more of an autobiography than anything to learn from.
Reading this became a bit of a slog for me. I was interested in the topic given that I work in healthcare, but it didn't feel like it lived to the description that it would set straight what the doctor's role in medicine really is. I was also thrown off by the Spanish: it felt unnecessary to the book to have these untranslated discussions. It was more of an autobiography than anything to learn from.
June 19, 2022
I enjoyed ‘Doctor’ and it was an easy read with interesting anecdotes. The narrative was engaging. The book didn’t particularly standout from the other medical biographies I’ve read previously, although I did enjoy his insights and perspectives on how medicine is evolving. All in all ‘Doctor’ was an enjoyable read and I would recommend it.
Many thanks to NetGalley, the author and the publisher for a free reading copy in exchange for an honest review.
Many thanks to NetGalley, the author and the publisher for a free reading copy in exchange for an honest review.
February 26, 2019
A poignant, funny inside glimpse into life as a physician.
January 5, 2021
So interesting and relatable at times.
June 30, 2025
Bomback's path to medicine was reasonably straightforward: with his own father a doctor, he had a clear sightline to what medicine could be. He went into nephrology, though, not pediatrics, and what he saw was a changing face of medicine—one that would eventually push his father, who was infinitely more comfortable with paper charts and quick, instinct- and experience-based diagnoses than he was with technology and insurance rules, out of practice.
I've read a lot of medical memoirs. I never had any interest in going into medicine myself, but I'll read about it until the cows come home. But...I think this book was a missed opportunity. It's part of Bloomsbury Academic's Object Lessons series—short books about common objects (or, in this case, I guess professions). The contents vary: sometimes the books are memoirs, but sometimes they're microhistories or cultural critiques. And there's a bit that is broader here (Bomback talks about where medicine is going—i.e., that everything now involves computers—relative to what it was in his father's heyday, although in 2025, now that the conversation is all about AI, Bomback's take already feels dated), but more than that it's personal story, which is to say memoir. Stories about Bomback's father; stories about Bomback's own patients; ventures into parenting (with a wife who is also a doctor and—Bomback mentions only in passing—both frustrated that she did not go into surgery and aware that balancing surgery and parenting would be difficult); and so on. And all of that's fine!*
But Object Lessons has the chance to do something so unique, and a medical memoir is not all that unique. I would have liked to see what this book was if it had taken the form of...the history of doctors, say. Or a cultural history of nephrology. (Is that a thing? Now we'll never know.) Or something specific to, oh, scalpels, or dialysis, or something like that. Maybe I just don't think that a doctor is a "thing"? Or perhaps I think it could be, but this book isn't exploring any of the questions I hoped it might. Fine if you're in it for anecdotal memoir, but with this series I always hope for something more.
* Well, most of it's fine. The chapter about callous doctor jokes felt unnecessary, and there's a moment when Bomback wonders who would love a blind and fat woman (a patient of his) and I wondered, not for the first time, just what they're teaching in medical school.
I've read a lot of medical memoirs. I never had any interest in going into medicine myself, but I'll read about it until the cows come home. But...I think this book was a missed opportunity. It's part of Bloomsbury Academic's Object Lessons series—short books about common objects (or, in this case, I guess professions). The contents vary: sometimes the books are memoirs, but sometimes they're microhistories or cultural critiques. And there's a bit that is broader here (Bomback talks about where medicine is going—i.e., that everything now involves computers—relative to what it was in his father's heyday, although in 2025, now that the conversation is all about AI, Bomback's take already feels dated), but more than that it's personal story, which is to say memoir. Stories about Bomback's father; stories about Bomback's own patients; ventures into parenting (with a wife who is also a doctor and—Bomback mentions only in passing—both frustrated that she did not go into surgery and aware that balancing surgery and parenting would be difficult); and so on. And all of that's fine!*
But Object Lessons has the chance to do something so unique, and a medical memoir is not all that unique. I would have liked to see what this book was if it had taken the form of...the history of doctors, say. Or a cultural history of nephrology. (Is that a thing? Now we'll never know.) Or something specific to, oh, scalpels, or dialysis, or something like that. Maybe I just don't think that a doctor is a "thing"? Or perhaps I think it could be, but this book isn't exploring any of the questions I hoped it might. Fine if you're in it for anecdotal memoir, but with this series I always hope for something more.
* Well, most of it's fine. The chapter about callous doctor jokes felt unnecessary, and there's a moment when Bomback wonders who would love a blind and fat woman (a patient of his) and I wondered, not for the first time, just what they're teaching in medical school.
June 23, 2019
Doctor is the third book I've read in the Object Lesson series published by Bloomsbury Academic. "Filled with fascinating details and conveyed in sharp, accessible prose, the books make the everyday world come to life."....at least that's what they are supposed to do.
I would have liked more history and facts like other books in the series, and less of the doctors 3 generations insights. Andrew Bomback is a highly specialized doctor, married to a doctor, and son of a doctor. This book looks at some of the changes in the past generation in a conversational way. The chapter on doctor jokes seemed lame to me. He discusses his child's allergy issues at length and solutions they tried, like visiting dairy farms. Bomback attempts to speak Spanish with his first born so she is bi-lingual. (Mom speaks Spanish.) Half-way through I made a note that the daughter's Spanglish speech was getting way 'too cutesy.' Bomback writes about what a wonderful pediatrician Andrew's dad-doctor was, but now he should be retiring. Nice to have a personal touch, but not what I thought the book would be about.
Bomback writes, " For me, doctoring is a job; for my father, doctoring is a calling. Being a doctor is his (dad's) lifestyle, his personality.....I've become comfortable being the modern version of a doctor, hyper-specialized, paid with insurance and Medicare dollars. Just doing my job."
I want more from my doctors. Why would you spend all that time and money to "just do a job." C'mon, live your life with some passion.... and publisher, pick someone more excited to write about the important art/ science of being a Doctor.
Thanks to Netgalley for an ARC of this book. All opinions are my own.
I would have liked more history and facts like other books in the series, and less of the doctors 3 generations insights. Andrew Bomback is a highly specialized doctor, married to a doctor, and son of a doctor. This book looks at some of the changes in the past generation in a conversational way. The chapter on doctor jokes seemed lame to me. He discusses his child's allergy issues at length and solutions they tried, like visiting dairy farms. Bomback attempts to speak Spanish with his first born so she is bi-lingual. (Mom speaks Spanish.) Half-way through I made a note that the daughter's Spanglish speech was getting way 'too cutesy.' Bomback writes about what a wonderful pediatrician Andrew's dad-doctor was, but now he should be retiring. Nice to have a personal touch, but not what I thought the book would be about.
Bomback writes, " For me, doctoring is a job; for my father, doctoring is a calling. Being a doctor is his (dad's) lifestyle, his personality.....I've become comfortable being the modern version of a doctor, hyper-specialized, paid with insurance and Medicare dollars. Just doing my job."
I want more from my doctors. Why would you spend all that time and money to "just do a job." C'mon, live your life with some passion.... and publisher, pick someone more excited to write about the important art/ science of being a Doctor.
Thanks to Netgalley for an ARC of this book. All opinions are my own.
January 1, 2019
This is a wonderful book. It is part essay on a life in medicine, part coming of age story, part parenting tale. The characters are written with great humor and love and the narrative of his son’s illness is woven masterfully into vignettes examining the practice of medicine and the identity of Doctor.
The most interesting part of this book to me was the focus on the roles we play for each other - Doctor, parent, son, husband, patient.
I enjoyed this title immensely.
The most interesting part of this book to me was the focus on the roles we play for each other - Doctor, parent, son, husband, patient.
I enjoyed this title immensely.
June 28, 2018
This book gave me the opportunity to see a doctor's view on health and patients. As I have so many health issues this was fascinating to read, especially when he stated his view on 'plan for the worst, hope for the best'. This was what I had been doing at that point in time as I approached a neck operation.
I enjoyed the book and felt thankful for getting this doctor's point of view which in many ways was so similar to my own.
I was given this book by NetGalley and the publisher. This is my voluntary and impartial review.
I enjoyed the book and felt thankful for getting this doctor's point of view which in many ways was so similar to my own.
I was given this book by NetGalley and the publisher. This is my voluntary and impartial review.
kindle
September 21, 2018It is hard to believe that such a great book about how the changes to modern medicine affect a doctor's day to day life came about because the author's three year old asked him what it was like to be a doctor and he didn't have an answer. I loved how honest the author was about the limitations he has in regards to assisting patients. This was very informative and a great read!
September 27, 2018
Doctor by Andrew Bomback is a wonderful read for anyone who wants a deeper look into the life of a doctor. As the wife of a doctor, I was excited to pick up this book and see how it compares to reality. I found this book to be honest and refreshing. It is a great read for doctors and their patients, too. This book examines the complexities in practicing medicine-- the difficulty of applying knowledge to unique individuals in specific situations. Nothing is perfectly clear. And everything can change constantly. I loved this book! Pick it up-- it will change the way you see doctors forever. I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher. These opinions are entirely my own.
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews