This is the most human doctor book I've ever read. This is high praise not only because I have read almost every g-damn doctor book out there, because those people are usually flesh-colored robots who can't write for shit.In this memoir, Paul Austin curses, loses it, lusts after his wife, and beautifully communicates the trajectory of an ER doctor, from training to practice, focusing on how to maintain compassion (sanity) in the face of the meat grinder that is shift work in medicine. He also cracked me up a lot.I'm glad I read it right after [a:Pauline Chen|192504|Pauline W. Chen|http://www.goodreads.com/images/nophoto/nophoto-U-50x66.jpg]'s [b:Final Exam|335690|Final Exam A Surgeon's Reflections on Mortality|Pauline W. Chen|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1173845419s/335690.jpg|2298119], because they're two great tastes that taste great together. [b:Final Exam|335690|Final Exam A Surgeon's Reflections on Mortality|Pauline W. Chen|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1173845419s/335690.jpg|2298119] is the theory, and [b:Something for the Pain|3419519|Something for the Pain One Doctor's Account of Life and Death in the ER|Paul Austin|http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51WV53vOYlL._SL75_.jpg|3459983] is the practice. ( )

About: An emergency room doctor details hopeful as well as grim ER cases, appreciative and combative patients and the struggle of balancing work, sleep and family.

Pros: Solidly written, gives a nice glimpse into the hardships and high points of an ER life and the toll it can take on a doctor and his family.

Cons: Some medical terms not defined. Blurbs on the back are mostly from folks who have little to do with medicine and seem to consist of his teachers at a writing conference. ( )

This book is very well written, but the stories were not as interesting as I hoped. I felt that there was too much personal information about his family and not enough about the patients he treated in the hospital. I hope this author writes again because he's a great writer, her just needs better material. ( )

Something for the Pain
by Paul Austen

Here is big city ER as you’ve never witnessed it before. Austen rolls the memoir camera giving us a big city reality show that operates twenty-four, seven. With a straightforward narrative the doctor examines himself and what it means to be fully human and medically precise. Snap shot accounts of this fireman, intern, turned ER doc, open us to his family’s delicate vulnerabilities as well as the stressful demands of crisis intervention on the job. With sensitivity and poise, he navigates the trauma of each patient’s details revealing the grueling, and often life/death choices that face him. Often his mangled patient is unable to be revived. What awaits Austen is the anxious family just outside his door. The poignancy and wisdom that is offered reflects a man fighting for his relationships and for ethical standards. I have a new found respect for what a doctor can be and why this writer must bring us more to savor. ( )