Secrets from the Black Bag

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Mudical Humanities at its best! - Rated
'Jan Luydik haunts me. If he's honest, every doctor will admit to such a patient. Jan's one of the reasons I want to leave general practice." Susan Butler's "Secrets from the Black Bag" (SBB) is a collection of 33 quirky, fascinating stories about general physicians from the far-flung corners of the world. This is a great book for any health care professional, especially recommend for medical students and house staff who could use a dram of humility. Butler's doctors are honest, straight-talking chaps; not gods or goddesses, but humble people trying to do difficult jobs and often screwing up. One senses that Butler stands on the shoulders of writers like William Carlos Williams. SBB is an antidote to the preachy popular medical literature we read today; omniscient tales of self-styled experts. Compared to these, Butler is curiously refreshing. SBB is best taken in doses of two to three stories a day (like any good medicine.) One needs a bit of time to absorb the tart unsentimental messages. Ms. Butler's SBB has earned a place on my bookshelf next to Williams' "The Doctor Stories" and John Berger's "A Fortunate Man." Highly recommended to anyone interested to what lies at the heart of medicine.