What do you think?
Rate this book
The Real Grey's Anatomy: A Behind-The-Scenes Look at The Real Lives of Surgical Residents
The ABC medical drama Grey’s Anatomy has generated a flurry of interest in how medical professionals really make it through one of the most rigorous educational programs around, but how much of the medical drama seen in Grey’s Anatomy is pure entertainment, and how much is an accurate reflection of life both in and out of the OR?
In The Real Grey's Anatomy , a well-known medical journalist provides some answers. He examines a group of new surgical residents at a major teaching hospital in the Pacific Northwest as they tackle the roller-coaster ride of long hours, fascinating procedures, mundane office tasks, and emotional ups and downs that comprise the life of a student of surgery.
In The Real Grey's Anatomy , a well-known medical journalist provides some answers. He examines a group of new surgical residents at a major teaching hospital in the Pacific Northwest as they tackle the roller-coaster ride of long hours, fascinating procedures, mundane office tasks, and emotional ups and downs that comprise the life of a student of surgery.
318 pages, Paperback
First published December 18, 2009
86 people are currently reading
1049 people want to read
About the author
Andrew Holtz
4 books8 followersFormer CNN Medical Correspondent Andrew Holtz, MPH, is an independent journalist based in Portland, Oregon.
His third book, “House M.D. vs. Reality” was released in March 2011. “The Medical Science of House, M.D.” was published in October 2006. Both books compare the medicine and other health care matters depicted on the TV show House to the real world. In January 2010, Berkley/Penguin published “The Real Grey’s Anatomy,” which takes a behind-the-scenes look at the training of surgeons. Holtz has also commented on media depictions of medicine in his ScriptDoctor column in Oncology Times.
Holtz was the Senior News Editor and Chief Anchor of video news reports for MDiTV.com from 2009 to mid-2010. (Archived videos available at www.lmpn.tv)
Holtz is a reviewer for www.HealthNewsReview.org, which evaluates news reports about medicine.
In addition to 17 years as a CNN Correspondent, Holtz has reported stories and produced programs for PBS, Oregon Public Broadcasting, and international TV networks. His work has appeared in Harvard University’s Nieman Reports, TV Week, and on web sites such as the-scientist.com. In 1998-99 he was a Media Fellow of the Kaiser Family Foundation.
Holtz is on the Board of Directors of the Association of Health Care Journalists (AHCJ) and the Center for Excellence in Health Care Journalism. He was AHCJ Board President from 2000 to 2004 and was Interim Executive Director during 2004-2005. AHCJ represents more than 1000 journalists who cover health, medicine and the business of health care. The Center produces educational conferences and other training and development materials for journalists.
Holtz has an appointment as a clinical instructor at the Oregon Health & Science University, where he did the research for his book on surgery residency.
Holtz is a member and former chair of the Multnomah County Bicycle and Pedestrian Citizen’s Advisory committee and is active in community efforts to make neighborhoods friendlier to walking, cycling and other physical activity.
He has a BA in Broadcast Communication from Stanford University and a Master’s in Public Health from the Oregon MPH program at Portland State University.
Holtz is married and has two children.
His third book, “House M.D. vs. Reality” was released in March 2011. “The Medical Science of House, M.D.” was published in October 2006. Both books compare the medicine and other health care matters depicted on the TV show House to the real world. In January 2010, Berkley/Penguin published “The Real Grey’s Anatomy,” which takes a behind-the-scenes look at the training of surgeons. Holtz has also commented on media depictions of medicine in his ScriptDoctor column in Oncology Times.
Holtz was the Senior News Editor and Chief Anchor of video news reports for MDiTV.com from 2009 to mid-2010. (Archived videos available at www.lmpn.tv)
Holtz is a reviewer for www.HealthNewsReview.org, which evaluates news reports about medicine.
In addition to 17 years as a CNN Correspondent, Holtz has reported stories and produced programs for PBS, Oregon Public Broadcasting, and international TV networks. His work has appeared in Harvard University’s Nieman Reports, TV Week, and on web sites such as the-scientist.com. In 1998-99 he was a Media Fellow of the Kaiser Family Foundation.
Holtz is on the Board of Directors of the Association of Health Care Journalists (AHCJ) and the Center for Excellence in Health Care Journalism. He was AHCJ Board President from 2000 to 2004 and was Interim Executive Director during 2004-2005. AHCJ represents more than 1000 journalists who cover health, medicine and the business of health care. The Center produces educational conferences and other training and development materials for journalists.
Holtz has an appointment as a clinical instructor at the Oregon Health & Science University, where he did the research for his book on surgery residency.
Holtz is a member and former chair of the Multnomah County Bicycle and Pedestrian Citizen’s Advisory committee and is active in community efforts to make neighborhoods friendlier to walking, cycling and other physical activity.
He has a BA in Broadcast Communication from Stanford University and a Master’s in Public Health from the Oregon MPH program at Portland State University.
Holtz is married and has two children.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 53 reviews
July 2, 2024
I think I would have enjoyed this more if it wasn't constantly trying to make connections with Grey's Anatomy (the TV series) but I understand it was the selling point. Quite interesting.
November 19, 2015
My experience reading this book was overall pretty good. Majority of the book is composed of scenes from the TV show Grey’s Anatomy and then an analysis of what is realistic to happen in an actual hospital versus what is completely fiction and only happens in the show for entertainment purposes. The one thing I didn't necessarily like was the repetitiveness. If you have seen the show, lot’s of this book will be review for you because it describes the scenes in great detail. It would have been more intriguing if i had either never seen the show or had not seen it recently. The book also had a lot of interviews with real life doctors who discussed questions like “What is the biggest difference between what you thought it would be like and the reality?” and then the doctors would continue on to describe their very different answers. What I loved about this book was that it wasn't just one persons view on the topic, it brought in many different doctors so you get to see what it’s like from tons of different view points and experiences, everyones story is unique and just as interesting as the next. One of the things I took away from the book was that you don’t always know what you’ll be doing in the future and there are certain points in our lives where we have make those decisions. When each doctor was asked about why he or she chose to do what they do, everyone had a different answer. Dr. Nick Tadros says he chose a job in surgery because, “instead of treating something with drugs for years, you can just cut it out” (Holtz 164). We all have our own paths to adulthood and they come to be because of the decisions we make as we grow older. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in having a future in medicine. The book isn't for any specialty, its quite vague in that sense, so it’s a good read for a wide variety of people. I would also recommend this book to people who are huge fans of Grey’s Anatomy. As mentioned previously, this book does an amazing job of taking real scenes from the show and analyzing them. The reason I chose this book was because I love the TV show AND everything about medicine, but you don't necessarily have to love medicine to like this book either.
Read
August 28, 2011Does a decent job of explaining the lives of real residents, but it seems like the whole Greys link was thrown in just to sell books to fans of the show and the book just has pointless connections to the show.
November 20, 2021
Interesting book from a medical standpoint. However, I feel as if the references to the tv show were minimized and the average reader may find this a but disappointing.
July 10, 2017
3.5 Stars
Interesting comparison between the TV show Grey's Anatomy and real life events in a hospital in the Pacific Northwest. My biggest issue - there was no conclusion -it just ended abruptly.
Interesting comparison between the TV show Grey's Anatomy and real life events in a hospital in the Pacific Northwest. My biggest issue - there was no conclusion -it just ended abruptly.
November 7, 2023
In love 🫶🏼
May 22, 2025
This is a nonfiction book which compares an internship and resident's experiences with those of the famous residents on Grey's Anatomy, the ABC medical drama. The author spent about a year at a hospital in Oregon shadowing various interns and residents and writing about their lives. He covers literally everything that is addressed in the show, from sex with colleagues, to handling difficult patients, deaths of patients, insurance and patients who can't pay for their care, and even the absurd such as the emergencies that the residents are sent out in the community to handle (which the author addresses and why it's so absurd). Each chapter addresses a different facet of life as a freshly minted doctor, and most chapters are just a few pages long. I liked this book and am giving it four stars.
January 20, 2022
My biggest issue with this book is that I'm not the intended audience, so as a result I took over a year to get through it. That's not the book or the author's fault though, and if I didn't already have some insight into the healthcare system I would have thoroughly enjoyed the way information is laid out and interspersed with perspectives from real surgeons. I can recommend this to people who are fans of the show it draws upon, or those who have an interest in American surgical training pathways.
April 15, 2012
I thought this book was an interesting way to compare the events depicted on the TV show 'Grey's Anatomy' with real life, and I liked the author's approach of limiting the discussion to surgical residents, as they are the main characters on the TV show, with attendings and others on the hospital staff playing supporting roles as on TV.
Holtz's book was written fairly recently, so he had a number of seasons of the show to select specific cases from then find similar instances in the time he spent at Oregon's OSHU hospital shadowing the residents. Certain residents appear in the book more frequently than others, which I found understandable, as residents rotate through specialties frequently, so if he's looking to learn about the vascular medicine service, and stays there a few weeks with a resident, it's very possible that when he moves on to the liver transplant service, the same resident may have also rotated there, but the resident now on vascular has missed his or her chance to be featured in the book. (Just an example, I don't recall if that specific occurrence happened.)
Holtz was able to include many different types of medicine in his book, as well as much of the non-patient-interaction side of being a resident, such as attending conferences, learning how progress from paper charting to electronic charting, and practicing surgical techniques in a skills lab before being expected to do the surgery on a real patient. One common thread running throughout the chapters was the change at OHSU to a shorted working week for the residents and that while it limited burnout and inattentiveness by residents who had been working for 48 solid hours, the residents found it harder to find a sense of completeness in each rotation, like they didn't have enough time to learn all they needed to before moving on to something new.
Also, Holtz points out the places where the TV show takes dramatic license. While the stars of 'Grey's' seem to be able to find time to fall in love with, sleep with, and likely break up with most of their fellow staff memebers, the OHSU residents often used their free time to sleep or continue to think about work. A late chapter in the book looked at the 'Grey's' episode where all of the surgical residents are dispatched to triage a disaster scene, but in reality, there are trained medics and firefighters to do that, and the real need for the surgical residents is to either prepare for the incoming traumas or care for the patients already at the hospital.
So overall, it was a good book, and I liked his approach with using the TV show to provide a framework for the book, though I'd have liked it just as much had he skipped the TV show portion and added more actual cases.
Holtz's book was written fairly recently, so he had a number of seasons of the show to select specific cases from then find similar instances in the time he spent at Oregon's OSHU hospital shadowing the residents. Certain residents appear in the book more frequently than others, which I found understandable, as residents rotate through specialties frequently, so if he's looking to learn about the vascular medicine service, and stays there a few weeks with a resident, it's very possible that when he moves on to the liver transplant service, the same resident may have also rotated there, but the resident now on vascular has missed his or her chance to be featured in the book. (Just an example, I don't recall if that specific occurrence happened.)
Holtz was able to include many different types of medicine in his book, as well as much of the non-patient-interaction side of being a resident, such as attending conferences, learning how progress from paper charting to electronic charting, and practicing surgical techniques in a skills lab before being expected to do the surgery on a real patient. One common thread running throughout the chapters was the change at OHSU to a shorted working week for the residents and that while it limited burnout and inattentiveness by residents who had been working for 48 solid hours, the residents found it harder to find a sense of completeness in each rotation, like they didn't have enough time to learn all they needed to before moving on to something new.
Also, Holtz points out the places where the TV show takes dramatic license. While the stars of 'Grey's' seem to be able to find time to fall in love with, sleep with, and likely break up with most of their fellow staff memebers, the OHSU residents often used their free time to sleep or continue to think about work. A late chapter in the book looked at the 'Grey's' episode where all of the surgical residents are dispatched to triage a disaster scene, but in reality, there are trained medics and firefighters to do that, and the real need for the surgical residents is to either prepare for the incoming traumas or care for the patients already at the hospital.
So overall, it was a good book, and I liked his approach with using the TV show to provide a framework for the book, though I'd have liked it just as much had he skipped the TV show portion and added more actual cases.
April 28, 2010
Stupid. Not nearly as interesting as the tv show. I shouldn't have read this- it ruins my image of surgical interns. They DON'T have sex during their shift?!? Lame!
March 25, 2024
Coming into it I thought the writing would be humorous and poking fun at the tv show; however, I found it to be gracefully all the opposite. I’ve seen the first several seasons of Grey’s Anatomy that are referenced in the writing, and I think unintentionally the writing pays tribute to the show.
It took scenes from the show and expanded on them with real life stories from inside the hospital. It’s a must read not only for aspiring physicians, but for all because you learn so much about the psychology, communication and approaches to decision making, critical thinking, emotional awareness that surgeons must have when managing the care for patients. You realize that patient care is an art just as much as it is a science, and those that see that make the best surgeons.
For example, when as a surgeon do you decide more treatment is futile and no longer the path forward? When do put down the knife, turn off the ventilator and let the patient go? How do you notify the family of bad news? You can’t be too cold or else it appears you don’t care enough, but you can’t be too warm or else it can cause the family and patient to become unproductively emotional and unstable. What about when the patient is a criminal, an inmate? They teach you to let go of your bias, stay apolitical, and focus on the job at hand: providing the best care for the patient, regardless of who they are or where they come from. Lessons that are applicable in all areas of life, not just in or around the OR.
There’s no fluff, the author gets into the action and stories from the beginning. I highly appreciate the stories and lessons learned, can’t recommend the read enough for those who love medical non-fiction.
It took scenes from the show and expanded on them with real life stories from inside the hospital. It’s a must read not only for aspiring physicians, but for all because you learn so much about the psychology, communication and approaches to decision making, critical thinking, emotional awareness that surgeons must have when managing the care for patients. You realize that patient care is an art just as much as it is a science, and those that see that make the best surgeons.
For example, when as a surgeon do you decide more treatment is futile and no longer the path forward? When do put down the knife, turn off the ventilator and let the patient go? How do you notify the family of bad news? You can’t be too cold or else it appears you don’t care enough, but you can’t be too warm or else it can cause the family and patient to become unproductively emotional and unstable. What about when the patient is a criminal, an inmate? They teach you to let go of your bias, stay apolitical, and focus on the job at hand: providing the best care for the patient, regardless of who they are or where they come from. Lessons that are applicable in all areas of life, not just in or around the OR.
There’s no fluff, the author gets into the action and stories from the beginning. I highly appreciate the stories and lessons learned, can’t recommend the read enough for those who love medical non-fiction.
November 20, 2022
I can’t say this book was boring, but it definitely weighed me down for some time. I started this book around seven years ago, before I even got into dental school.
At the time, I was an avid fan of Grey’s Anatomy, not having missed a single episode. I wanted to get a better understanding of the lifestyle of surgical residents and how distant it was from the life depicted in the tv show. I started the book in 2015 but didn’t finish it. This year, I decided to start working on the books I had on my “currently reading” shelf, and so I finally finished the book.
It was interesting to say the least. Residents have a more work-oriented life in the hospital while the tv show - as expected - leans more towards the “drama” aspect.
Anyway, I’m just glad I’m done with it.
At the time, I was an avid fan of Grey’s Anatomy, not having missed a single episode. I wanted to get a better understanding of the lifestyle of surgical residents and how distant it was from the life depicted in the tv show. I started the book in 2015 but didn’t finish it. This year, I decided to start working on the books I had on my “currently reading” shelf, and so I finally finished the book.
It was interesting to say the least. Residents have a more work-oriented life in the hospital while the tv show - as expected - leans more towards the “drama” aspect.
Anyway, I’m just glad I’m done with it.
April 22, 2020
Despite the fact that it took me a long time to finish this, I’m really happy I gave it a try!
And I can only recommend this to everyone who loves Grey’s as much as I do (or just anyone who’s interested in the medical field).
It’s not a book to read to relax and enjoy the sun since it can get quite technical and detailed, but it kept my brain occupied. It felt more like studying but in a very good way!
You get a great insight into how it’s really like to become a surgeon, the differences between fiction and reality. And while we all know that there are differences, I still was surprised at what the book covered.
Loved every page of it tho!
And I can only recommend this to everyone who loves Grey’s as much as I do (or just anyone who’s interested in the medical field).
It’s not a book to read to relax and enjoy the sun since it can get quite technical and detailed, but it kept my brain occupied. It felt more like studying but in a very good way!
You get a great insight into how it’s really like to become a surgeon, the differences between fiction and reality. And while we all know that there are differences, I still was surprised at what the book covered.
Loved every page of it tho!
March 6, 2021
Bought this book ages ago and attempted to read it but lost interest. I recently picked it back up in an effort to reach my reading challenge. While the book was good and had a lot of interesting information, at times it felt like an information overload. Some chapters were more difficult to get through than others and the ending of the book didn’t really tie together why the book was written. All in all not a bad book but probably won’t read again.
March 26, 2022
I was skeptical about this book because of the Grey's Anatomy tie-in, but was pleasantly surprised to find it's an examination of different issues that real surgeons and hospitals face. Each chapter tackles a different topic faced on the show but also in real life, featuring intern and resident interviews. Each chapter is researched well, with citations listed for further study/reading. All in all, well done.
July 4, 2024
I think the comparisons to Grey's Anatomy were a bit tedious, but given the fact that the author used the show as the platform to compare fiction with the real life surgical interns at a medical teaching hospital in Oregon, it makes sense.
I read the book in one sitting but ended up skipping over the Grey's Anatomy references about 1/3 of the way through. All in all, I thought it was informative and interesting.
I read the book in one sitting but ended up skipping over the Grey's Anatomy references about 1/3 of the way through. All in all, I thought it was informative and interesting.
October 23, 2020
Honestly, it was a mediocre book. I knew from the start it was not going to be fully about the show, Greys Anatomy, but part of me was hoping for that dramatic entertaining aspect. I found myself bored reading this book, but it was interesting to learn more in-depth about the lives of medical professionals.
April 3, 2022
It was really interesting to get an idea of how it really is in hospitals compared to things on Grey's Anatomy, a show I used to watch religiously. I love behind-the-scenes stuff, anyway, so it was very intriguing. And further confirmation that I was totally not cut out to be in medicine (I used to think I wanted to be an OBGYN way back in the day).
July 16, 2020
Having never seen the show, I found this book to be a good introduction to both the series and the lives of surgery students.
November 28, 2020
This was interesting and easy to understand.
November 16, 2020
Just couldn't get into it. I was really looking forward to reading this, but it just seemed to be all over the place
February 27, 2017
Do you love the series Grey’s Anatomy? Well if so, you’ll take interest in this book as soon as you lay eyes on it. This book will allow all readers to learn about the reflections of that intense reality that are seen in the flickering images of the immensely popular TV series. “The Real Grey’s Anatomy” is a non fiction book by Andrew Holtz. His writing is based off the study and real lives of surgeons and interns.
Mr. Holtz followed around real doctors at Oregon Health & Science University in Portland for several months to provide readers the background for actual scoop on what life is like as a real life surgeon-in-waiting as opposed to their TV equivalent. The main character is Dr. Nick. He is portrayed as a family man who is very devoted to his job. He cares about each patient he comes across and does everything in his power to make sure all his patients survive his surgeries. A main conflict that Dr. Nick had to face was having time to spend with his family. Being that he is a surgeon, he spends 50 to 80 hours a week at work. Some days he isn’t able to make it home and is lucky if he can get home for dinner on time. His wife isn’t very understanding of his job and can’t relate due to the fact that she isn’t a surgeon. She later learns to accept that her husband is a very busy man and that he just tries to provide for his family. Dr. Nick tries every now and then to make effort to spend a little time with his wife and kids to make them all happy.
In this book, scenes from Grey’s Anatomy were covered throughout the text, acting as a backdrop to the information that Holtz imparts. Some of the scenes dramatically show where TV gets it wrong for the sake of entertainment, and other scenes reflect things taking place in real hospitals. Holtz’s book contains lots of information. Each chapter ends with a list of additional reading-articles that expound on the information already laid out in the preceding chapter. Although the book was very good in my opinion, the transition between the description of the Grey's Anatomy scenes and the real life scenario were not done very well.
Mr. Holtz followed around real doctors at Oregon Health & Science University in Portland for several months to provide readers the background for actual scoop on what life is like as a real life surgeon-in-waiting as opposed to their TV equivalent. The main character is Dr. Nick. He is portrayed as a family man who is very devoted to his job. He cares about each patient he comes across and does everything in his power to make sure all his patients survive his surgeries. A main conflict that Dr. Nick had to face was having time to spend with his family. Being that he is a surgeon, he spends 50 to 80 hours a week at work. Some days he isn’t able to make it home and is lucky if he can get home for dinner on time. His wife isn’t very understanding of his job and can’t relate due to the fact that she isn’t a surgeon. She later learns to accept that her husband is a very busy man and that he just tries to provide for his family. Dr. Nick tries every now and then to make effort to spend a little time with his wife and kids to make them all happy.
In this book, scenes from Grey’s Anatomy were covered throughout the text, acting as a backdrop to the information that Holtz imparts. Some of the scenes dramatically show where TV gets it wrong for the sake of entertainment, and other scenes reflect things taking place in real hospitals. Holtz’s book contains lots of information. Each chapter ends with a list of additional reading-articles that expound on the information already laid out in the preceding chapter. Although the book was very good in my opinion, the transition between the description of the Grey's Anatomy scenes and the real life scenario were not done very well.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 10, 2021
I loved this book. I never watched greys anatomy until immediately after I read this. As someone who wants to go into the medical field, I had to think about lots of things mentioned like the lack of sleep, amount of hours a week etc I think this is a book for you if you just want an overview of what it’s like to be in a medical pathway and just to have an idea
April 23, 2013
"Find out what makes surgical residents tick ...
"Do surgeons talk about their sex lives while cutting open a heart?
How much time do surgical interns actually spend in the OR?
Do surgeons respond to death as objective doctors or as compassionate people?
How do they react when asked to save the life of an abuser, a criminal, or an addict?
"Since its debut, the ABC medicaldrama Grey's Anatomy has raised compelling questions like these. With an emphasis on the personal lives of the surgical interns, residents, and attending physicians, the show has generated a flurry of interest in how these medical professionals really make it through one of the most rigorous educational programs around.
"Howmuch of the medical drama seend in Grey's Anatomy is pure entertainment, and howmuch is an accurate reflection of life both in and out of the OR? Here, a well-known medical journalist provides some answers. He examines a group of new surgical residents at a major teaching hospital in the Pacific Northwest as they tackle the roller-coaster ride of long hours, fascinating procedures, mundane office tasks, and emotional ups and downs that comprise the life of a student of surgery."
~~back cover
I really enjoyed the first couple of seasons of Grey's Anatomy -- until, like Downton Abbey it devolved into almost pure soap opera, with the characters changing on an almost weekly basis without any apparent reason for doing so. So I was looking forward to the book.
And I did enjoy it. The author compares the imaginary world of surgical residency with the make believe world portrayed in the series. Interesting look at the differences, and the similarities. The book does address some of the moral issues surgeons (and doctors in general) face -- the issues where there's no black or white but only shades of grey.
"Do surgeons talk about their sex lives while cutting open a heart?
How much time do surgical interns actually spend in the OR?
Do surgeons respond to death as objective doctors or as compassionate people?
How do they react when asked to save the life of an abuser, a criminal, or an addict?
"Since its debut, the ABC medicaldrama Grey's Anatomy has raised compelling questions like these. With an emphasis on the personal lives of the surgical interns, residents, and attending physicians, the show has generated a flurry of interest in how these medical professionals really make it through one of the most rigorous educational programs around.
"Howmuch of the medical drama seend in Grey's Anatomy is pure entertainment, and howmuch is an accurate reflection of life both in and out of the OR? Here, a well-known medical journalist provides some answers. He examines a group of new surgical residents at a major teaching hospital in the Pacific Northwest as they tackle the roller-coaster ride of long hours, fascinating procedures, mundane office tasks, and emotional ups and downs that comprise the life of a student of surgery."
~~back cover
I really enjoyed the first couple of seasons of Grey's Anatomy -- until, like Downton Abbey it devolved into almost pure soap opera, with the characters changing on an almost weekly basis without any apparent reason for doing so. So I was looking forward to the book.
And I did enjoy it. The author compares the imaginary world of surgical residency with the make believe world portrayed in the series. Interesting look at the differences, and the similarities. The book does address some of the moral issues surgeons (and doctors in general) face -- the issues where there's no black or white but only shades of grey.
October 31, 2012
The Real Grey's Anatomy was often interesting. I love getting a sense of the realities of professions that are dramatized and glamorized by Hollywood, and I particularly enjoyed the parts of the book in which the author completely debunked how some events are handled at the fictional Seattle Grace Hospital.
I do feel that some parts of the book were very disjointed. The author would start an anecdote and then completely change the subject. For example: "Another trauma case arrives soon after . . . The man has a steak knife in his eye. A trauma nurse remarks that it is the fourth seriously damaged eye they've dealt with tonight." That's it. Perhaps it's beyond the scope of this book to go into the particulars of individual cases, but I want to know what happened to the guy with a knife in his eye!
On the whole though, this is a pretty quick and enjoyable read, and it can give you a little bit of appreciation for the difficulties faced by the people who take care of us when no one else can.
I do feel that some parts of the book were very disjointed. The author would start an anecdote and then completely change the subject. For example: "Another trauma case arrives soon after . . . The man has a steak knife in his eye. A trauma nurse remarks that it is the fourth seriously damaged eye they've dealt with tonight." That's it. Perhaps it's beyond the scope of this book to go into the particulars of individual cases, but I want to know what happened to the guy with a knife in his eye!
On the whole though, this is a pretty quick and enjoyable read, and it can give you a little bit of appreciation for the difficulties faced by the people who take care of us when no one else can.
July 22, 2010
This book is for anyone interested in a behind-the-scenes look at the lives of surgical interns. Grey's Anatomy fans will like the many references to the show that are peppered throughout the book. The book's comparison between the show and real-life will really raise your eyebrows. Find out how surgical interns and residents balance work with relationships during their hospital residency.
My Notes
Though I am not a dedicated Grey's watcher, this book had even me hooked with all of its facts (and the real challenges that surgeons have to go through in order to gain their full license). I am looking forward to finding Holtz's book on the science behind the early episodes of House, M.D.
My Notes
Though I am not a dedicated Grey's watcher, this book had even me hooked with all of its facts (and the real challenges that surgeons have to go through in order to gain their full license). I am looking forward to finding Holtz's book on the science behind the early episodes of House, M.D.
April 16, 2012
I was hoping to get some additional insight/perspective on life in the hospital for a surgeon, but I didn't learn anything new. The book focuses mostly on interns and compares what interns in episodes of the T.V. show "Grey's Anatomy" experience to what real surgery interns experience. Some of the chapters were repetitive and a little dry. I think it would be good for kids in high school that are interested in pursuing surgery.
The fun part about the reading the book was that we know one of the residents that was featured throughout the book. That was exciting and kept me reading to the end. He did a great job!
The fun part about the reading the book was that we know one of the residents that was featured throughout the book. That was exciting and kept me reading to the end. He did a great job!
June 5, 2012
This book is what got my interest in Medical thrillers, crimes, and fiction. I love the show Grey's Anatomy and Andrew Holtz did a brilliant job on telling the real events with the fiction events. As much I appreciate our doctors and nurses that work so hard to save life's, this book tells the stories of what I think could be the real deal about what really goes on in the ER.
Andew Holtz also tells how the intern go through rigorous educational program and still try to have a personal life. I would recommend this book to people who love Grey's Anatomy the show and also to people who are interested on become doctors. It's educational, funny, and entertaining.
Andew Holtz also tells how the intern go through rigorous educational program and still try to have a personal life. I would recommend this book to people who love Grey's Anatomy the show and also to people who are interested on become doctors. It's educational, funny, and entertaining.
July 31, 2014
Luckily, I bought this book off a discount table. Otherwise, it probably wouldn't have been worth it. I enjoyed the tie-ins to one of my favorite TV shows and I dogeared some pages and highlighted some passages (for future fanfic writing reference) but the book overall was very choppy. I liked the insight into how surgical residents really live and work, but the chapters were very disjointed and occasionally super short paragraphs of one or two sentences, completely out of the blue, would be thrown in because they had some vague connection to the chapter at hand. And there was no "ending", either. It barely felt like a chapter ending, much less the end of the book.
October 17, 2016
Well written and filled with great stuff, but I will admit that I was interested in this book for the comparisons to Greys Anatomy, which were overall repetitive and seemed like they were thrown in there to become the selling point of this book. Otherwise, there is a lot of cool information about being a surgical resident that I wouldn't have known if I hadn't read this book. If Greys Anatomy were in it more, since it is in the book's title, I would have given it a better rating.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 53 reviews