This book was deep and personal while also being informative. I appreciate the author's authentic retelling of what life was like for medical professionals during the pandemic. It was hard to put this book down!
Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for giving me the chance to read and review this book!

This is a memoir of the experience of a doctor during the midst of COVID-19 pandemic of 2020. The author and his wife (both doctors) have their second baby right as the pandemic begins. They wrestle with having a newborn as well as navigating this new world of medicine with no guidelines and no answers. WIll he give his newborn daughter and newly postpartum wife covid? What will happen to him as he cares for people infected with COVID? I loved his vulnerability of how he processed this year and the toll it had on him mentally and emotionally. (made it relatable for any health care worker). He also mentions the racism that was experienced in our country at that same time (BLM movement and George floyd) and speaks to gender bias (women being treated differently than men).

This is a great book for anyone who loves medical memoirs or wants to learn more about what healthcare workers experienced on the frontlines.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for a review. Book was released 11/7/2023.

A really interesting and emotive read. Most of us were just sat at home doing nothing during Covid so it is inspiring to read about people on the frontline

One reason I love reading medical stories is that they really read like thrillers. The doctor writing this has a new baby when Covid hits the US, and he and his wife (who also works in the medical field) take off work during the beginning to welcome the new baby. When the doctor returns to work, everything is changing fast because Covid is new and nobody knows how to treat it. With a new baby in the home, he also has concerns about the danger he presents to his family while working with Covid patients.
There are other things going on, such as differences in the way women and minorities are treated while they are trying to do their jobs. And the book has a greater sense of urgency because this doctor does -- he cares about his patients and even gives out his cell number to families so he can stay updated on cases he's concerned about when the patients go home.
Thanks to NetGalley for letting me read this

Thank you to the author, McFarland Books and NetGalley, for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This moving memoir of a recent time that we all struggled through was absorbing and emotional. The author and his wife, both physicians, had welcomed their second child just as the pandemic hit the US. Apart from the stress of having an infant and a toddler at home, the worries must have been crushing: coping with the Corona virus with almost no preparation and unclear guidelines, insufficient PPE for his staff and recalcitrant patients who on the one hand demanded that medical personnel help them recover instantaneously, and on the other hand were unwilling to abide by simple rules such as masking. The author is honest and vulnerable about the pressures and mental health challenges he himself, and health workers in general suffer from. I found his thoughts on casual racism - the US was going through the upheavals of BLM protests after the death of George Floyd - very insightful, particularly as he and his family are of southeast Asian heritage and surely also have to cope with this on an ongoing basis as well.

Thanks to NetGalley and McFarland for an ARC of Burning Out on the Covid Front Lines.

Burning Out is Dr. Desai's memoir about his experiences during the worst of the Covid-19 pandemic. Dr. Desai doesn't try to soften the challenges he faced both as a doctor and as a father and husband. He is candid about his mental health challenges and the steps he took to manage them. He could have left that out and focused on the sick patients, but he didn't. He gave an honest account. He was respectful when recounting events at his hospital. That extended to the patients, and their families, that didn't show him and his staff respect. He delved into the racial challenges he and his staff faced and the steps he took to try and change them. He also acknowledged there is still a ways to go. A well-written and educational read and one of my favorites of the year.

This poignant memoir follows Dr. Dhaval Desai's life during the COVID pandemic. Just before the pandemic begins Dr. Desai and his wife who is also a physician welcome their second child. Working at a hospital in Georgia as a front line internal medicine, Dr. Desai treated patients throughout all of the COVID surges. This memoir covers the experiences at the hospital as well as pressures of a dual career household during a pandemic.

What makes this memoir unique is the honestly, vulnerability and transparency including throughout the book. Very personal topics such as mental health challenges that doctors face personally, racism in medicine and his own experiences with vitiligo are shared with courage and compassion.

Thank you to NetGalley and McFarland for an advanced reader copy of this manuscript in exchange for an honest review.

Another great really heart felt book about Covid. This doctor shared so much of his personal and professional life during Covid. The book was a page turner and definitely taught me a lot of behind the scenes information about the pandemic. The doctor had to make hard choices between home life and work. A really good read.

Real life.
Thanks to author, publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book. While I got the book for free it had no bearing on the rating I gave it.