Star Surgeon

Very predictable YA SF by Nourse. A medical student who wants to be the first alien to become a surgeon for Hospital Earth faces prejudice from humans. He has to prove himself on the interstellar equivalent of an internship with two other med students that plays just like every Tom Corbett, Space Cadet novel. The senior doctor who most stands in the way of this young surgeon has a bad heart. You'll never guess what happens!

The one saving grace is a nice medical mystery and resolution worthy of Sector General.

But overall, not recommended.

Highly recommended. Never mind that it's old; it's relevant right now. I enjoyed the free audio from Librivox.org of this short public domain book and suggest you trust me (the narrator is a volunteer, but he's very good... there's also an ebook version on project gutenberg). If you want more persuasion, read on, but I can't really talk about it without being a bit spoilery.

Mostly surprisingly intelligent and wise. Ok, it does seem odd at the beginning that Tanner has to tell the committee his objections to the Garvian probationer, as I would think they would have had discussions well before Dal had 8 years of training. And the cleverness of the virus vs. their hosts is kind of awkward (see Manny's review).

But the anti-racist message show more of Dal's fight for respect and independence is beautifully done. He has to deal not only with Tanner's racism and extreme patriotism, and Jack's ignorance and fear, but with his friend Tiger's impulses to be a 'white savior.' He has to find his own core of strength, his own confidence in his skills and judgement, his own self-respect. All along I thought he was doing fine, but the ending just makes me realize that, as a white American, I do not always see what challenges the disenfranchised face. show less

Enjoyable story about the first non-human to enroll as a doctor at Hospital Earth. Dal has to face prejudice and his own doubts. I enjoyed how the story ended.

Nourse, Alan E. Star Surgeon. 1959. E-book edition, Start, 2012.
Alan E. Nourse paid some of his medical school bills by writing science fiction, so science fiction about future medicine was a natural fit for him. In Star Surgeon, he imagines a future in which humanity hopes to make its place in the interstellar community by making medicine the Earth’s chief industry. Dal Tingar is a humanoid ET who has just earned his medical degree in surgery from Hospital Earth and is eager to be posted to an ambulance ship. As the only non-human in his graduating class and the first in surgery, he faces prejudice that compounds his own feelings of inadequacy. I think James White must have been a fan of this novel, because he used its title for one show more of his Sector General novels. 3.5 stars. show less

A graduating medical student of alien decent teams up with two human grads for his initial proving-ground assignment.

This is a YA or a juvenile as it was probably called when it came out. Graded on that curve it is okay. Graded as standard scifi, it is a little light and sterile. The one and only actual alien medical case is interesting, but solved too easily, and then forgotten for the overarching 'kid has to stand up for himself' plot.

This is apparently 3rd in a series, but I see nothing you would need to know from the other books except probably background about hospital earth. Unfortunately, I don't think this book was near good enough warranting hunting down the first two books.

One of the old (not to say classic) science fiction books in the Sci Fi Stockpile collection, over 10,000 pages long, that I downloaded from somewhere. This one's from 1959 and shows its age, both in ancient technology (spaceships communicate by TELETYPE!) and in heavy-handed preachiness. Still, an interesting look back at the kind of books I devoured in high school. Not a bad story at all, just a bit dated.

I read this long ago --probably in this very copy from my home town library. My recollection of the plot is that the humans --who are on a probationary status seeking membership in a federation of alien races --for some reason are exceptionary good at medicine The hero is the first alien accepted for training in a human medical program, which involves serving on a human hospital ship. Some human (one in particular) are hostile fearing that if he succeeds in gaining their skills, humans will lose their valuable status; ultimately, after a crisis in which he is almost disgraced, he does qualify as a surgeon, an it turns out that the requirement for joining the federation is precisely that humans are able to share their skills with another show more race show less