I appreciated getting to read this collection of stories and enjoyed getting to read the peak behind the medical field. The stories were engaging and enjoyed the overall concept of this book. Donna Bulseco has a strong writing style and was able to create a great research concept.

Healthcare workers sometimes get a reputation (often self-imposed) for being numb to it all - once you've seen everything, nothing surprises you anymore. It's a joke that gets played over and over again in media, meme pages, and even between friends and loved ones (I myself definitely make jokes about being dead inside about once a day to my friends and co-residents) - it's all in good fun, but it's not true at the core, no matter how many times your loved one tells you that they're fine.

In "Where It Hurts", more than 60 doctors, nurses, therapists, EMTs, patient advocates, and other medical professionals offer a window into the space between health and illness, life and death as they share stories of difficult patients, life-changing diagnoses, their own failures, and the successes that make everything worth it. From short stories to essays, from poems to memoirs, healthcare professionals take space to share what they feel - their joys, their triumphs, their grief, their suffering, their guilt, and their forgiveness - to themselves, and to a system which asks much and gives little in return.

This is a must-read for those in healthcare and the friends and family that love and want to understand them. Here is a treasure trove of writing - from the short and sweet to the reflective and voluminous, there's a little something that everyone - even those who insist that they don't feel anything and don't need to reflect on medicine because "it's just a job" - should be able to read and relate to (read "Your First Pediatric Intubation" and tell me that you're not haunted by the dragons of your self-doubt as you weep openly, I dare you).

I think it's hard to admit in medicine and in life - particularly in self-obsessed, self-started, above-it-all America - that the things we see and do or don't do, conversely) affect us. We see crying and feeling and talking about how messed up this all is as a weakness, and while preaching to our patients that self-reflection, taking time, and naming/facing your emotions is important, we are loathe to do it ourselves. I think books - whether fiction or nonfiction - are an easy way to being the path to letting go of some of the hurt, the stoicism, and the poor coping habits healthcare workers in particular try to form for themselves as a shield against the horrible things they see. This book in particular is a short read that those looking for a way in should consider picking up - and maybe call your mom or a therapist too, while you're at it.