Word: lebaron
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...LeBaron is not your typical medical student. At 34 he's the oldest in his class, and a man with a career already behind him. After working 13 years in health service as a social worker and an orderly, he knows the medical establishment from the bottom up. When he tells of the doctors who won't take time to speak with anyone but other doctors, on of the administrators who never make it into the trenches to observe what they're administering, he does so with a working-class sensibility. They've never had to subdue a raging schizophrenic...
...also knows his writing. As the author of a published novel, LeBaron is a talented narrator with a gift for fluid glibness. Thus, he seems like the perfect person to write an expose on the training of doctors--the most criticized profession in this country besides politics...
...main problem is that LeBaron is more than an observer. He is the star--in fact, he is the only intelligent being in his book. Sometimes he's open with his conceit: "But I had guts, all right. Better to act modest though." More often he simply takes to demeaning all those around him. His professors are generally insulting, harsh, sexist, and self-satisfied. His fellow students are completely absorbed in their books, frustrated, awed, and for the most part heartless cowards. According to LeBaron, they aren't even interested in what they study...
...course, LeBaron wasn't always a here. He arrived without knowing much about science: "Myknowledgy of neuroanatomy," he confesses, "stops with an idea that the brain is located somewhere in the head." But he learned quickly even with all his complaints. And there are a lot of them. The administration is conservative and hirarchical Basic science courses don't integrate the clinical material. There is too much memorization and not enough reasoning. Even his signs of generosity are grudging: "On the whole, I was willing to give Harvard the benefit of the doubt," he writes. Not really...
...most confusing is the book's inconsistent tone. LeBaron, with his nonscientist credentials as his trump, mixes complete naivete with brutal cynicism. This is the insider who still considers himself on the outside. By the end you can't tell whether he hated his first year, or if he would recommend Harvard Medical School to someone else. He can't seem to understand why anyone beside himself would ever even want to go to Medical School...