Acknowledgments

Thanks to all those who helped make this book into something I can be proud of, including:

Healing the Mind: A History of Psychiatry from Antiquity to the Present by Michael H. Stone helped Ellison decide to specialize in child psychiatry.

Harvard Med: The Story Behind America’s Premier Medical School and the Makings of America’s Doctors by John Langone for help with details on what Ellison’s first year of medical school would have been like.

Lisa Sander’s “Diagnosis” column in the New York Times Sunday Magazine for help with problems Ellison faced in his Problem-Based Learning class.

Despite the sources I consulted, this is a work of fiction and as such, there are bound to be differences between what my characters experience and the realities of medical school. The characters, places and events in my novel come from my imagination and are not meant to reflect real people, places and events. I would like also to thank:

Duke University and my friends there, who made my college experience a much happier one than what Ellison found in Durham.

All the musicians and bands mentioned in the book, whose music I listened to and fondly remembered during the writing of the novel. Every song mentioned reminds me of a special time in my life.

My boys (Jeff, Owen, and Parker), for giving me the time, space and encouragement to write.