Writer, M.D. · the Best Contemporary Fiction and Nonfiction by Doctors (Vintage)

From Chekhov to Maugham to William Carlos Williams, doctors have long given voice to their unique perspectives through literature. Writer, M.D. celebrates this rich tradition with a collection of fiction and nonfiction by today’s most beloved physician-writers, including,

• Abraham Verghese, on the lost art of the physical exam

• Pauline Chen, on the bond between a med student and her first cadaver

• Atul Gawande, on the ethical dilemmas of a young surgical intern

• Danielle Ofri, on the devastation of losing a patient

• Ethan Canin, on love, poetry, and growing old

These essays and stories illuminate the inner lives of men and women who deal with trauma, illness, mortality, and grief on a daily basis. Read together, they provide a candid, moving, one-of-a-kind glimpse behind the doctor’s mask.