The House of God
House of God is a book by Samuel Shem (a pseudonym of Professor of Psychiatry Stephen Bergman ), which was originally released in 1978. By its very cynical view of the training of young doctors in hospitals, the book caused a significant shift in public opinion and was therefore one of the reasons for the reform of medical education in the United States in the eighties.
Content
Dr. Roy Basch is a new sintering ( about: medical assistant ) in a hospital called the House of God, after he completed his medical studies at the BMS ( for Best Medical School). He is only poorly prepared for the grueling services and the sudden responsibility and also learns from the more experienced doctors hardly help. He survived the year (as opposed to one of his fellow students, who commits suicide ) due to various factors: his girlfriend Berry, various affairs with nurses (which are described in great detail ) and an enigmatic assistant physician, who is called only the thickness. This supports his protégés with knowledge such as the "Rules of the House of God", which occupy a central role in the book. The book ends with the assistant doctor of psychiatry, Dr. Cohen, almost the whole year of internists enticed to pursue a career in psychiatry. Of this then tells the continuation of Mount Misery.
Context and impact
The book is very autobiographical. The BMS stands for the Harvard Medical School ( HMS) and the House of God stands for the Beth Israel Hospital, one of the HMS affiliated hospital in Boston. The often mentioned " MBH " ( Mans best hospital ) is in reality the Massachusetts General Hospital. Of course, the story is strongly exaggerated in some places, nevertheless, a large part of physicians to recognize their own experience in it.
Many of the developed concepts in the book have found their way into the language of Hospitals:
- Gomer: Get Out of My Emergency Room - "A human being who has often lost through age, what makes a man " (the thickness)
- LAD in GAZ: Love Old Lady are supplied in good general condition, no Gomer
- Zebra: A very unlikely diagnosis in which there is another diagnosis that would better explain the symptoms ( "If you Hufgetrampel hear, there are probably horses, not zebras ").
Rules of the House of God
Reception
1984 there was a film adaptation of the book.
Also, the series Scrubs - clear parallels to the book on. For one, the plot is very similar, since Scrubs by doctors in their first years are in a hospital. On the other hand, many concepts and ideas are taken up (eg the cynical mentor or the designation of patients as Gomer ). Likewise, the series Grey's Anatomy, then, for example, in both series the quote " When you hear hoofbeats, do not have to be equal to Zebras " is used. This quote is also used in the series House MD. This is known to the like used in the medical principle of Occam's razor, also known as Occam's Razor.
Bibliography
- Samuel Shem: The House of God. Earthscan, 1998, ISBN 3-426-60906-1.
- Samuel Shem: Mount Misery Earthscan, 2000, ISBN 3-426-61460- X ( continuation of House of God )