**I received an e-ARC from NetGalley for an honest review**

This memoir of med school and the journey to becoming a doctor definitely sticks out from most that I have read. Mostly because of the author having had a TBI and resulting memory issues. Other than that, there's nothing that really makes this book stick out from the rest.

My biggest complaint, there is no original feel to the writing style, almost as if an editor took stories from the author's journal and cleaned them up to make them match other memoirs. I came to read a book about this author's specific experience, and the lack of originality (save for the memory issue) let me down.

Overall, it's worth reading once, but it's not the first med school memoir I would recommend.

Good doc memoir-interesting, informative, a bit different.

I love medical memoirs and this was a good one. A bit different in that he hadn't always dreamed of going to medical school. He hadn't intended to. I've read some memoirs where their desire has been evident early on; to be eg a vet or a doctor-being a doctor seems the main thing he's dead set against being! And he didn't exactly have the best or easiest of starts to his medical studies, having just suffered a head injury and associated difficulties with that; memory problems, fatigue etc.

I don't think it's the best doc memoir I've read, but it was good, and interesting, and informative. I am encouraged to read his other parts/next books on his journey as a doctor.

He takes us on a tour through the various departments and specialities he's worked in qualifying as a doctor eg. Cardiology, Obstetrics. Also a spell at the Burns ICU, Orthopedics, then a stint in Rural Medicine, Psychiatry, and Anaesthesia.

At first, this was not quite what I expected-I thought it was going to be about a country or village doctor in England, (I obviously didn't read the blurb properly in my eagerness to grab another medical memoir!), but this provides a different backdrop as it is in the USA. This means a few different placements eg. Telluride-at a ski resort. I've read a few doctor memoirs now and here are some new scenarios I've not seen before. A good doc memoir. Looking forward to the next book.

This book is so funny!! It demystified the image that all doctors are geniuses and know they want to go into Medicine from age five, while bringing a comical and light side to a field usually associated with very serious topics and serious people.

I really recommend this for anyone thinking of going into Medical School (or simply if you're looking for a light-hearted and funny book). If you're a fan of Adam Kay, you'll probably also love this.

Will definitely be reading the following books in the series!

Hilarious, some what educational and genuinely fascinating.

This witty, fast paced introduction to becoming a Dr is full of stories and anecdotes and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Books with chapters titled, “where a spider bites my penis” have to be highly regarded in my opinion.

I laughed particularly loudly at the description of nurses and their attitude to Junior Doctors, I am a nurse and recognised some character traits.

I can’t wait to read the next one!

As a medical student I love a medical memoir. As a medical student in the UK, I found this hilarious book simultaneously worlds away and frighteningly similar to my placement experiences. This was a great read as it explores more "off duty" life. Mostly lighthearted and fun book!

Thank you Netgalley for this ARC of Playing Doctor by John Lawrence.

This is a memoir of sorts about a man's journey through medicine in Salt Lake City, Utah. He starts around the time that the med students are able to actually start talking to patients, and all of his experiences up until he starts residency.

I have actually read a decent amount of doctor experiences and accounts. They are all fascinating, humbling, and horrifying. But from a strictly writing standpoint, this was okay. It didn't quite have the wit, humor and self deprecation that I've enjoyed in the past. There are moments that I felt like I was reading a travelogue, and then other times it felt a bit self agrandizing. But Lawrence still does a great job giving us a glimpse into how terrifying, and exhilarating becoming a doctor can be. It definitely had it's moments of shock, humor, and tragedy.

Thank you #Netgalley for the advanced copy!

Following the journey of John during his first few years of medical school was such a fun read! Who would have ever imagined he would begin his schooling as a patient in the emergency department?! Though he encounters a few set backs from a traumatic brain injury, to only having a bike for transportation and limited money supply, John made it work! I appreciated his bluntness of why he chose certain rotation paths. It was also interesting to learn about how each leader during a rotation is so different, I can't imagine how stressful that would be especially when you are dealing with someone's health!

I can't wait to read the follow up books about his journey through residency!

A memoir of medical school, which began pretty unconventionally with a traumatic brain injury that left the author with significant amnesia that meant forgetting most of what he learned as he went through the entire first year of classes. I really enjoyed this a lot. I liked the self-deprecating humor and general tone of the book, and I very much liked the sort of behind-the-scenes look at what medical school is like, as this is something I have wondered about, being in a less exciting area of the medical profession myself. The only complaint I have is that I cannot wait for the next book (of a planned four books)! Five stars.

This is about the trials and tribulations of becoming a doctor in the US. Whilst you might think that was challenging enough in itself, the author had specific hurdles to overcome including his own short term memory loss after an accident and not being the typical "I've wanted to be a doctor since I was 9" candidate. I liked that it really humanized doctors as people who struggle with their emotions and difficult life circumstances, although at the moment in the midst of a global pandemic people might prefer to think of their doctors as superheroes who never make mistakes. My one criticism of this book was that it just wasn't that funny although it was billed as a humorous romp through his medical career. It may be that I was unfairly comparing it to the brutally hilarious This is Going to Hurt by Adam Kay and my expectations were just too high.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for a copy of this book.

I really wanted to like this book. I am a huge fan of medical memoirs and funny memoirs, and I have a huge personal interest in medicine, but I could barely finish this book. Half of this book read like a guide book to the 4 years of medical school and what to expect, the other half were supposedly humorous quips about how terrible the whole experience was. It seemed like the author truly hated medical school, and I could not tease out why the author even wanted to go in the first place.

However, my biggest issue was the gynecology chapter where the author mentions crude jokes physicians would make and excused those instances as just ways to cope through a difficult day and then admits that "this attitude" would not be "tolerated any longer in the post #MeToo era." There is a myriad of issues with the whole paragraph where this is discussed. 1) There is never an excuse for medical professionals to make those sorts of 'jokes' given patients literally trust these people with their bodies and are in need of medical assistance. No one is ever forcing them to make those comments. 2) An attitude that is deemed not tolerated because of the movement is problematic. He shifts the blame to the movement as to why he can't think this way anymore without realizing what is problematic about it in of itself.

I think the author has the potential for a really strong story here with the physical trauma he has gone through and the ability to get through medical school after everything he went through, but it is barely explored. I did enjoy the anecdotes about different patients and his time during the first 2 years of medical school. Lawrence is an engaging writer overall, but I couldn't enjoy this book. I am still potentially interested in picking up the other parts.

Due to the state of the world right now we should all appreciate medical personal more and reading this book solidified that. We all think we know how grueling medical school is, what those men and women go through on a daily basis all to help out humanity, but you don’t know the half of it until you dive in to this story.. What this author went through as a person and as a medical student is remarkable and I took forward to reading the next book in the series to see how he flourished in what seems like impossible odds. This book is wonderfully humorous and delightfully sassy, pick it up, you won’t regret it.

John Lawrence didn't grow up wanting to be a doctor: he wanted to be a scriptwriter. This is the story of how he ended in medical school and became a family doctor. Starting med school with a traumatic brain injury (bike riders, please wear a helmet!), he has a tough first year. As his brain heals, Lawrence learns to thrive, survive, and succeed in his chosen field. I would recommend this book to anyone thinking of going to med school. Well written and well told. I look forward to reading his other books as they become available.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing this book in exchange for an honest review.
I usually enjoy books about medical students and nurses and this one was no exception. I really enjoyed the honesty and humor of his journey through med school. The chapter on the burn unit gave me chills as I am a survivor of TENS as well as one of his patients. This book is well written. I am looking forward to reading more by this author.

In "Playing Doctor - Part One", John Lawrence highlights his years as a medical student at the University of Utah. He came to profession, not as many medical students who dream about becoming a doctor their entire life, but instead as a liberal arts major, and not a pre-med undergrad. Lawrence starts his first year of medical school at a disadvantage when he gets in not one but TWO bicycle accidents involving head injuries, which greatly affects his ability to remember items. You know, something just a little important in medical school. He focuses the bulk of the book on years three and four of medical school, as that is when students spend their time doing rotations in different specialities trying to decide what they want to do when they graduate. Lawrence highlights some specialities such as orthopedics (the rockstars), cardiology, family medicine, neurology, and emergency medicine. He captures nicely the amount of knowledge students have to take in. Just when they begin to feel somewhat knowledgeable, they rotate to another service with a whole different team and personalities. This was a nice overview of what medical school can be like, and appreciated his discussion of feeling "imposter syndrome" frequently. Multiple times in the book he teases that he will do a "Part 2" to highlight his residency years. A minor subjective nitpick- having worked in both university and VA hospitals, I did not appreciate his categorization of VA rotations as basically a vacation and a cakewalk. Perhaps it may have been different in the 90s when he was in medical school, but the complexity of conditions and unique cases/injuries one sees in the VA was not reflected, which I was disappointed in.

Medical school joke: “What do you call the person who graduates last in their medical school class?”

Answer: “Doctor.”

The line is right-on-the-stethoscope and sets the tone early in this nimble, entertaining medical school memoir. Told in the first person with tongue firmly planted in cheek, Playing Doctor includes twenty-one chapters and an Epilogue covering the author's four years at the University of Utah School of Medicine.

Laced with self-deprecating humor, Playing Doctor isn’t another ER knock off or a Marcus Welby, MD wannabee. No siree, Dr. Kildare! Witty and waggish, the narrative begins with a droll stroll down the author’s cringe-worthy first year of med school, made all the more cringe-worthy by short-term memory loss, courtesy of a mountain bike crash-induced brain injury. What follows is an excruciatingly insightful look at the author’s life as a medical student “in the dark ages of the 1990s.”

Indeed, Playing Doctor is a rare “behind the scenes” look at what it may take to get in, through, and graduate from medical school in between sleep deprivation, mountains of student loan debt, Tequila, and amnesia. It includes:

- Anatomy tests and “practical exams”
- "See one, do one, touch one."
- The shoulder is “the most mobile joint in the body.” Who knew?
- Neurology and “expensively inconclusive tests.”
- The “patient/doctor divide”
- “Volumes of pathologically collected information”
- The author’s ER “frequent flier miles” (usually involving a bike)
- “Rounding”
- The “Socratic teaching method form hell”
- SOAP notes
- Elusive patient charts
- Rales
- Scrub hunts
- Morbidity and mortality conferences
- Trying to find Scandinavia on a map
- Medical providers are real people, too. So, be kind.

The writing is strong, covering four torturous and sometimes insanely funny years of medical school. (The text is sometimes derailed by the occasional typo. Nobody’s perfect.)

Peppered with personal anecdotes ranging from ski guiding in France to an elective rotation at a rural medical center in Colorado, the story is also solid and engaging. It gives non-medical readers a glimpse into the personal, non-academic side of studying and practicing medicine. Or at least playing at it.

NOTE: If you routinely skip Introductions, don’t skip this one. Playing Doctor’s Intro includes the important tidbit that this memoir is Tongue. In. Cheek. (If you miss that, you’ll likely think twice (if not thrice) before ever setting foot inside another doctor’s office.)

Speaking of missing it, this is a medical school memoir. So parts of it are like, Yuck. That’s med school speak for “yuck.” And sometimes just Too. Much. Information. Aka: “Yuck.” Indeed, some readers may find the tone disturbingly flippant. Others may laugh out loud. Or pour another Tequila.

The Epilogue closes with: Coming SOON: Playing Doctor (Part II), Intern Year.

There will be a quiz on Friday. (You may want to stock up on Tequila.)


#PlayingDoctor
#NetGalley

The story opens with a quote from Voltaire: “The Art of medicine consists of amusing the patient while nature cures the disease.” John Lawrence provides just the right type of humor to amuse his readers as he leads us through a stream of consciousness memoir of how he became a doctor. Playing Doctor: Part 1 is as engaging as it is enlightening. Lawrence describes every step of his unique journey becoming a doctor: from proving interest during interviews to navigating the first years of medical school after suffering from traumatic brain injury. He describes the ups and downs of the medical school journey through vivid descriptions of patients, lessons learned, and personal anecdotes. If you’re at all interested in what goes on beyond the “Staff Only” doors in a teaching hospital, give Playing Doctor: Part One a go!

I laughed out loud at many places in this book – and also showed paragraphs to my husband who also laughed. So serious and yet so ridiculously true.
Personally, my daughter and I, are often used by the Consultants as what they call informed patients. They send the baby doctors over to us to take an in-depth assessment of what is wrong with us and to make a diagnosis. As we are informed patients, we frequently find we have to give large hints to the babies. Like feel this – or look more carefully at that, or what often comes alongside that. And then they proudly go off to tell the consultants what they have found out, but have still missed the most telling diagnosis even after all the help we give them. We aren’t permitted to actually tell them the answers, just to prompt them. They only want us to answer yes or no – see location 725, they don’t realize that there is never a yes or no answer. When you are a patient there are always shades of grey involved.
The one most important quote I am going away with from this book is from Plato -
Plato believed that do inserts a new knee into my cavity and chips away at it to make it fit neatly and bend correctly. Well I’m not saying this during the op of course…doctors should be made up of those who had experienced injury and illness and had undertaken the treatment that they were now proposing to he patient. I totally agree. As I have said many times to my consultants – how can you say this won’t hurt much, or only a sharp scratch or.. if they not had the treatment themselves, they have no idea of the pain they will be putting me through.
And yes, i totally agree that the orthopods have he best carpentry tools. I tell my orthopod this and tell him that he is a glorified carpenter as he
I have also objected to the term doctor. As do nurses I have found out. Having studied and researched for 5 long years and written a 100,000 word dissertation of an addition to knowledge to obtain my nomenclature as a doctor, studying 3 years and passing exams which only require memory, does not a doctor make. In fact the term doctor is an honorific. Doctor comes from the Latin word for "teacher" and originally referred to a small group of theologians who had approval from the Church in the 14th century to speak on religious matters. [Merriam Dictionary],

This Book tells the story of how the author decided to go to medical school and what happened during the 4 years of medical school in the USA.

I enjoyed reading this book .

With thanks to Netgalley & Books go Social for the advance copy of this book in exchange for this review.

****Playing Doctor: Part One Medical School. The gist of Mr. Lawrence’s story implies that he was basically clueless when he actually began to see patients... and his real training began. The author pretty much covers all the bases...lousy teachers, sleepless nights, preparing for one thing only to encounter something completely different and unexpected. He filled his story with attempts at humor to offset the drama. It was interesting but not as riveting as some other stories I have read covering the same topic. I voluntarily reviewed an advance copy of this book from NetGalley.

This is exactly what you'd expect - set in the USA, an enjoyable memoir of how the author decided on medical school and what went on in the four years there