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Becoming a Doctors' Doctor: A Memoir
Becoming a Doctors’ Doctor is author and psychiatrist Michael F. Myers’ revelation of the fascinating and sometimes tragic encounters with doctors as patients. Physicians are expected to be resilient and to carry the burdens of others. But all too often, the on-the-job stresses can result in mental illness. Beginning with his roommate’s suicide in the first year of medical school, Myers found himself craving to learn more about physicians and their vulnerabilities. In this memoir of his thirty-five year career, Myers shares vignettes of treating doctors for depression, alcoholism, burnout, and more. He reveals the stigma physicians face when asking for help and the struggles they endure while keeping others healthy and safe. A psychiatrist with a passion for helping physicians, Myers highlights the importance of mental health treatment for doctors and the social and emotional costs of serving the community. Beautifully written, Becoming a Doctors’ Doctor heralds the many patients to whom he has devoted his practice and career.
- GenresMedicineNonfiction
211 pages, Kindle Edition
Published September 6, 2020
18 people are currently reading
409 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
February 19, 2021
With startling perception and compassion, the professor of clinical psychiatry and the author and coauthor of many books, Myers takes the reader into his world as a doctor’s doctor, delving into the vulnerabilities, struggles, and traumas the physicians who suffer from mental health problems go through as they relentlessly teeter on the tightrope between terror and courage and hope and change.
In descriptions of working with physicians with mental health difficulties throughout his career, he shares his personal experience of witnessing many lives lost to suicide in the absence of life-saving care, owing to the stigma associated with mental illnesses among medical professionals and the prevailing medical culture of being tough and immune to health problems. Along the way, Myers shares his own vulnerabilities, particularly his struggles with his mother’s alcoholism and the trauma of losing colleagues and patients to suicide. He also delves into his coming to terms with his sexual identity, adding a touch of intimacy to the account.
In recounting the stories of his patients and colleagues, Myers casts a deeply insightful and revelatory new light onto physicians’ struggles as mental health patients.
Myers’s account is deeply moving and makes for an invaluable reading not only for mental health professionals but also general physicians.
In descriptions of working with physicians with mental health difficulties throughout his career, he shares his personal experience of witnessing many lives lost to suicide in the absence of life-saving care, owing to the stigma associated with mental illnesses among medical professionals and the prevailing medical culture of being tough and immune to health problems. Along the way, Myers shares his own vulnerabilities, particularly his struggles with his mother’s alcoholism and the trauma of losing colleagues and patients to suicide. He also delves into his coming to terms with his sexual identity, adding a touch of intimacy to the account.
In recounting the stories of his patients and colleagues, Myers casts a deeply insightful and revelatory new light onto physicians’ struggles as mental health patients.
Myers’s account is deeply moving and makes for an invaluable reading not only for mental health professionals but also general physicians.
January 3, 2021
Note: In the spirit of full disclosure, I received this book from a goodreads giveaway and while a review is expected it was not required of me.
This book took me on an emotional journey and I am grateful for it. Hearing Dr. Myer’s story was both inspirational and touching. I am currently in my PhD program for clinical psychology and so not only was this read touching on a personal level, but I learned quite a lot that I hope will carry through into my future practice.
Dr. Myer’s stories of his own journey into psychiatry and his decades of experience in treating physicians offers a glimpse into mental health treatment that is not often examined. He mentions early on that many physicians are “wounded healers”, deeply human and often struggling with their own issues and losses, but they face a deep stigma about seeking help for their mental health.
There are parts of this book that are legitimately heartbreaking as Dr. Myers presents true stories of doctor-patients. I wept multiple times for the doctors in this book who faced loss and struggle and stigma so profoundly. However, despite this, the book is distinctly hopeful. Dr. Myers’ practice has gone through many changes in medicine from the 1960’s, through moments in medical history like the HIV/AIDS epidemic, to now in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. But he reiterated that he has also seen a shift in how psychiatric/psychological treatment for mental illness in physician circles has slowly begun to shift towards a more open and accepting viewpoint. He details how he has fought to be an advocate for physician mental health throughout his career and I’m grateful for him and others who have paved this path.
I realize that this review is quite long, but I just have so many genuinely good feelings towards this book. I highly encourage any healthcare/mental health professionals and students to read it. I feel that it has given me a deeper empathy and understanding of the experiences of physicians and I have taken away so many important lessons from it.
Thank you, Dr. Myers for your service to others and persistent efforts to education so that cycles of stigma can continue to be broken down. I hope that others are able to find as much value in this book and its many stories as I have and work together towards a healthier, more honest future amongst healthcare professionals.
This book took me on an emotional journey and I am grateful for it. Hearing Dr. Myer’s story was both inspirational and touching. I am currently in my PhD program for clinical psychology and so not only was this read touching on a personal level, but I learned quite a lot that I hope will carry through into my future practice.
Dr. Myer’s stories of his own journey into psychiatry and his decades of experience in treating physicians offers a glimpse into mental health treatment that is not often examined. He mentions early on that many physicians are “wounded healers”, deeply human and often struggling with their own issues and losses, but they face a deep stigma about seeking help for their mental health.
There are parts of this book that are legitimately heartbreaking as Dr. Myers presents true stories of doctor-patients. I wept multiple times for the doctors in this book who faced loss and struggle and stigma so profoundly. However, despite this, the book is distinctly hopeful. Dr. Myers’ practice has gone through many changes in medicine from the 1960’s, through moments in medical history like the HIV/AIDS epidemic, to now in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. But he reiterated that he has also seen a shift in how psychiatric/psychological treatment for mental illness in physician circles has slowly begun to shift towards a more open and accepting viewpoint. He details how he has fought to be an advocate for physician mental health throughout his career and I’m grateful for him and others who have paved this path.
I realize that this review is quite long, but I just have so many genuinely good feelings towards this book. I highly encourage any healthcare/mental health professionals and students to read it. I feel that it has given me a deeper empathy and understanding of the experiences of physicians and I have taken away so many important lessons from it.
Thank you, Dr. Myers for your service to others and persistent efforts to education so that cycles of stigma can continue to be broken down. I hope that others are able to find as much value in this book and its many stories as I have and work together towards a healthier, more honest future amongst healthcare professionals.
November 3, 2020
An Interesting Read, and I Learned a Lot
This book is hard to classify for me, because it has elements of being a case book, memoir, and reference.
Dr. Myers is very open and clear in his description of his work with physicians and their families. He gives insights into the circumstances that create the stresses unique to this group.
What fascinated me was how long it seemed to take for Dr. Myers to finally settle on his career path and emerge as an expert in a field he's nearly created.
The book is well organized and written in a coherent, and relevant manner. It is welcome that there are references at the end of each chapter. Not only useful, they lend a more scholarly tone to the book.
I wonder if there might have been two books here. After all, Dr. Myers has written other books so this shouldn't pose as an obstacle. I think I could find it easier to read about the personal revelations massed rather than interspersed among case stories.
I also am given the impression that while telling the reader a lot, we aren't told everything.
My last comment is not a critique or judgment, but rather just an observation of Dr. Myers life as he describes it. It seems that he finds change easier than most, and moved more times than almost anyone I know, not including his travels.
I learned a lot from reading about Dr.
Myers life.
This book is hard to classify for me, because it has elements of being a case book, memoir, and reference.
Dr. Myers is very open and clear in his description of his work with physicians and their families. He gives insights into the circumstances that create the stresses unique to this group.
What fascinated me was how long it seemed to take for Dr. Myers to finally settle on his career path and emerge as an expert in a field he's nearly created.
The book is well organized and written in a coherent, and relevant manner. It is welcome that there are references at the end of each chapter. Not only useful, they lend a more scholarly tone to the book.
I wonder if there might have been two books here. After all, Dr. Myers has written other books so this shouldn't pose as an obstacle. I think I could find it easier to read about the personal revelations massed rather than interspersed among case stories.
I also am given the impression that while telling the reader a lot, we aren't told everything.
My last comment is not a critique or judgment, but rather just an observation of Dr. Myers life as he describes it. It seems that he finds change easier than most, and moved more times than almost anyone I know, not including his travels.
I learned a lot from reading about Dr.
Myers life.
February 14, 2021
Myers, a professor of clinical psychiatry at SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University in Brooklyn, New York and the author and coauthor of eight previous books dealing with medical students and physicians, weaves a powerfully poignant account out of personal anecdotes from the wealth of experience he has gained over more than three decades in the field of psychiatry.
Beginning with his roommate’s suicide in the first year of medical school, Myers found himself craving to learn more about physicians and their vulnerabilities and eventually shifted his focus from internal medicine to psychiatry. Drawing on his own experience of thirty-five years working with physicians as patients, he creates a taut and often heartbreaking narrative of physicians’ susceptibilities, which included patients and colleagues’ struggles with depression, various mental illnesses, alcoholism, burnout, suicide, and more.
Their story also allows Myers to convey how the stigma associated with psychiatric illness in the house of medicine prevents doctors from seeking life-saving care along with dependence on self-diagnosis and the culture of medicine, which has a lot to do with being tough and strong.
He recounts an array of stories, including that of a young female medical student who hauled herself to emergency after a failed suicide attempt, the third-year medical student who struggled with depression throughout his career, the first-year resident in surgery at SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University who took his life, the prominent and universally loved orthopedic surgeon and sports medicine physician in Washington, DC who committed suicide among others.
With unflinching honesty and candor, Myers adeptly weaves his own vulnerabilities into the affecting narrative—from growing up with an alcoholic mother to confronting the AIDS epidemic in Vancouver to mourning colleagues lost to COVID-19. The narrative flows smoothly, the prose is crisp, and the story shines with personality. Keenly perceptive and beautifully written, the memoir allows the reader to bear witness to the sufferings of physicians suffering from mental health problems.
In stark contrast to the despondency of the theme, Myers’s deeply moving tale of physicians’ struggles with mental health problems is elegantly and evocatively written. Shatteringly heartbreaking, and yet wholly hopeful, the book offers an inspiring road map for anyone in the field of psychiatry; from early students of psychiatry to psychiatrists later in their careers will benefit from reading this memoir.
This is a haunting and memorable look at the impact of mental illness on physicians.
Beginning with his roommate’s suicide in the first year of medical school, Myers found himself craving to learn more about physicians and their vulnerabilities and eventually shifted his focus from internal medicine to psychiatry. Drawing on his own experience of thirty-five years working with physicians as patients, he creates a taut and often heartbreaking narrative of physicians’ susceptibilities, which included patients and colleagues’ struggles with depression, various mental illnesses, alcoholism, burnout, suicide, and more.
Their story also allows Myers to convey how the stigma associated with psychiatric illness in the house of medicine prevents doctors from seeking life-saving care along with dependence on self-diagnosis and the culture of medicine, which has a lot to do with being tough and strong.
He recounts an array of stories, including that of a young female medical student who hauled herself to emergency after a failed suicide attempt, the third-year medical student who struggled with depression throughout his career, the first-year resident in surgery at SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University who took his life, the prominent and universally loved orthopedic surgeon and sports medicine physician in Washington, DC who committed suicide among others.
With unflinching honesty and candor, Myers adeptly weaves his own vulnerabilities into the affecting narrative—from growing up with an alcoholic mother to confronting the AIDS epidemic in Vancouver to mourning colleagues lost to COVID-19. The narrative flows smoothly, the prose is crisp, and the story shines with personality. Keenly perceptive and beautifully written, the memoir allows the reader to bear witness to the sufferings of physicians suffering from mental health problems.
In stark contrast to the despondency of the theme, Myers’s deeply moving tale of physicians’ struggles with mental health problems is elegantly and evocatively written. Shatteringly heartbreaking, and yet wholly hopeful, the book offers an inspiring road map for anyone in the field of psychiatry; from early students of psychiatry to psychiatrists later in their careers will benefit from reading this memoir.
This is a haunting and memorable look at the impact of mental illness on physicians.
June 13, 2021
Deeply thought-provoking
This book contains so many stories that could have been written about me. It is a deeply thought-provoking read for me as an anaesthetist, author, show host and alcoholic in recovery. But this book also shows that help is out there. That there is hope and that it is ok not to be ok. A shirt and tie, combined with a stethoscope around your shoulders do not make you invincible. If at all, it makes you more vulnerable due to the constant strive for perfection. A must-read for any healthcare professional.
This book contains so many stories that could have been written about me. It is a deeply thought-provoking read for me as an anaesthetist, author, show host and alcoholic in recovery. But this book also shows that help is out there. That there is hope and that it is ok not to be ok. A shirt and tie, combined with a stethoscope around your shoulders do not make you invincible. If at all, it makes you more vulnerable due to the constant strive for perfection. A must-read for any healthcare professional.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews