The Pit: Memoir of an Emergency Physician

by Gary D. Conrad

After forty-five years in medicine, over forty of them as an emergency physician, Dr. Gary Conrad has seen almost everything and guides you deep into and through the steaming guts of medical school, internship and emergency medicine, where exposure to infectious diseases, emotional upheaval and life-threatening situations are commonplace. Learn how physicians approach family members about the death of a loved one, what “sphincter moments” are, how doctors deal with performing repulsive procedures they’d rather not do, and how they handle watching a patient die when nothing more can be done.

Genres: Nonfiction

211 pages, Paperback

First published July 26, 2019

About the author

Gary D. Conrad lives with his wife, Sheridan, and their dogs, Karma and Buddy, in Edmond, Oklahoma. Gary is an emergency and integrative physician, and his interests include Tibetan rights, meditation, the music of Joseph Haydn, organic gardening, choral work and wilderness hiking.

Reviews

[Petra X · Rating 4 out of 5]

Do you remember Readers' Digest? My father used to like it for the long essays, and this book reads like a series of them. All sorts of subjects. Constipation included! It is well-written and at times, very funny. But either I don't get the author's humour all of the time - quite likely since he's American and I'm not - or he's not quite as funny as he thinks. I rather admired how he could make my nose wrinkle in disgust whilst absolutely admiring him for the procedure. I'm talking about constipation now. The universal ailment that outside of one's nearest and dearest, is an absolutely taboo subject in company.

I discover on rectal exam a huge hard-as-a-rock fecal mass lounging in the rectum, preferring not to budge from its comfortable position in the recesses of the body. A simple enema won’t help this problem, much as I’d like to defer this job to the nurses, and no medication given by mouth has a chance of working. There are only two things that might solve this issue: one, a nuclear weapon, or two, my index finger. And since the A-bomb does not qualify as standard emergency department equipment, it is up to me and my finger.

This procedure, to put it mildly, is not pleasant for either the patient or the doctor. The impaction has to be dug out, bit by bit, piece by piece. Once the concretion is loosened, eventually the patient is able to bear down and push it out. Actually it is not just 'not pleasant', it can be the last straw too. When that happened to my grandma, who had cancer, after ten days of 'not going', and she was in constant pain and had pneumonia, she asked our family doctor for some 'special medicine'. They phoned me to come down from London and I lay on the bed next to her as the morphine took her from pain to sleep to coma to a very peaceful for her (not for me, the sound of someone dying from pneumonia, the death rattle is appalling.

I did have a problem to the author's attitude to drug addiction. Having just read the Killing Season: A Paramedic's Dispatches from the Front Lines of the Opioid Epidemic and seen that at least seven of us who commented had family or friends dead or in prison from drug addiction, a terrible mental disease no one asks for, no one thinks they will get, I was upset to read that a doctor was still thinking of them as conniving criminals who had chosen to be this way. Does an anorexic who starts off with dieting and gets a bit extreme, think they are going to get a sometimes fatal mental illnes? Do they get treated with every sympathy? Yes.

I must confess that certain unsavory aspects of emergency medicine have gradually taken their toll on me. One problem that has worsened over the years is dealing with drug seekers, those who come to emergency departments to obtain controlled substances, either to sell on the street for profit or to use personally in an abusive, addictive manner.

While I want to be supportive of anyone who has pain, to sort out those whose suffering is real from those who are faking their ailments can be extremely challenging. In the face of this daily onslaught, the emergency physician’s life force and compassionate nature are gradually siphoned away. Most of us have become exhausted by arguing with con artists who demand narcotics for their chronic pain, especially when their records clearly show that they received a plentiful supply in the recent past.

I know there are always fakers, there are always dealers, but that's so in every aspect of life. Most drug seekers are addicts and desperate. Portugal among other countries, recognising the truth about addiction twenty years ago decriminalised all drugs and gives the addicts what they need, safe spaces and are there for them when they are ready to dedicate themselves to treatment.

Following on from that, the author has something very interesting to say about health in America

Another underlying problem is that hospitals mainly generate income when disease is treated, not prevented. So, what is the motivation to change? Certainly, institutionally speaking, there is not a financial one.

Says it all really.

Notes on reading I think I am mildly addicted to medical memoirs. I wonder why? Is it existential angst over my own mortality or just kinda curiosity? I hope this one has something new to bring to the table. The author is a mystery fiction writer (when not donning scrubs and sticking needles into people) so I have faith in a different angle or stories from Resus.

[Deb Ristow · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received The Pit- Memoir of an Emergency Physician from the Goodreads Giveaway program written by Gary D. Conrad, MD. The Pit is a collection of memories of events from the emergency room or 'The Pit'. Told with humor, laughter, and sincerity, it brings life to some of the most scary, life threatening, embarrassing moments of a person's life that brings them to seek help in the local hospital. Told with honesty, the reader will experience moments beyond their imagination.

I really enjoyed this read. Loved the shortness of the chapters making some of the tough topics, easy to read. I felt like I was taken into The Pit in the hospital for a first hand experience that I won't soon forget.

[Holly Clark · Rating 5 out of 5]

Compelling, fascinating account of the work of an Emergency Physician

I have little patience with most books written today. This one is an exception. It had my attention from the first page all the way through to the way too early end. Dr. Conrad writes with an articulate, easy style, revealing an individual who truly cares about his patients, his colleagues and his calling. It is evident that, despite his considerable skills, he remains a humble practitioner, always seeking to improve the quality of the delivery of good care. We should all be so lucky to find ourselves in the care of such an outstanding practitioner. An excellent read; I could hardly put it down. Thank you, Dr. Conrad!

[Misty Day · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a great read. It is easy to follow along and ultimately feel as if you were actually present in the scenarios depicted in the stories. It honestly depicts the roller coaster of emotions and situations that healthcare workers are faced with each day. I found it hard to put down once I started reading.

[lynn stilley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Honest, personal medical story

If this book were longer, I might have given it a 5! The author is humble, clearly a great doctor, gives just the right amount of information, and it is edited well. So glad I read it!!

[Brooke · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was such an interesting read! I don't think I put it down.

[Betty Lou Stasny · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm extremely pleased that I bought this book.

I have been forever, deeply helped, to understand what emergency departments are all about. I wish that I would have had the opportunity to meet Dr Conrad and tell him how this 88 year old woman appreciates his life. Go well in your life Dr Conrad.

[Janice · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you're a fan of tv shows like "Trauma: Life and death in the ER" you'll definitely enjoy this book. The stories are gripping and realistic with heartbreak and humor. Sometimes we forget that doctors are people with feelings that can be profoundly affected by their experiences. After reading Dr. Conrad's book I have a much greater appreciation for what it takes to be a doctor, what it means to work in an emergency room, and how much of themselves these professionals put into their care of us.

I won a copy of this book through Goodreads giveaways.

[Chaitalee Ghosalkar · Rating 4 out of 5]

Three and a half stars

Dr. Conrad's memoir delves into the lives of Emergency Physicians, a department which has ailments and emergencies of all kinds thrown at them. There's a mix of interesting and semi-interesting anecdotes, the latter being a bummer because they kind of take the mood down. You go from one very riveting tale to another than is well...meh. Now I don't expect every chapter to hit a high, but some defined pattern would've elevated the reading experience

[B · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this book -
Found it very informative during this current pandemic

[William O. Robertson · Rating 3 out of 5]

One of the better "what it is like being an emergency room doctor" books but to be honest, I was disappointed that the book I downloaded from Amazon was not formatted properly for my iPHONE Kindle app. It was quite annoying to have to resize the book's pages each time I wanted to read. Also, the book would have been better if the good doctor had omitted his political commentary in a couple of places. Nevertheless, I enjoyed the book and I would have given 5 stars, but again with the poor Kindle formatting and some off color political comments I only gave the book a 3 star rating.

[Yomna · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm trying to read memoirs or autobiographies written by doctors practicing a specialty that I might consider. I think this adds some perspective and insight that I might have not taken into consideration, and indeed, chapter (someone has to do it - why does it have to be me?) pointed out something I never thought of -lol-. There were some dull chapters but overall it was an engaging read.

[Patti · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed the stories and wished there were more!