Medical School: Stumbling Through with Amnesia
Playing Doctor - Part One
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Prime members: New to Audible?Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Medical School: Stumbling Through with Amnesia
Buy for $19.95
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
John Lawrence
-
By:
-
John Lawrence
About this listen
John's medical memoir was born from chaotic, disjointed, funny and frightening late-night letters to friends over email (any recipients of which all those years ago will likely walk away now). Those manic blogs from the hospital wards during under-slept call nights (which left a few friends wondering if he had invaded the hospital pharmacy) were the genesis for this book, Playing Doctor.
This is a journey through medical training as interpreted by someone who told their college career advisor that the only thing they did not want to be was a doctor-not that medical schools want you believing their training was interpretive, like a modern dance company's version of Grey's Anatomy-and started school with a traumatic brain injury.
This entertaining, heartfelt demystification of medical school via the confusion that seemed to litter John's medical trail, takes listeners along the studies and clinical wards that miraculously teach students how to care for patients. The follow up books cover residency.
©2020 John Lawrence (P)2024 John LawrenceListeners also enjoyed...
-
White Hot Light
- Twenty-Five Years in Emergency Medicine
- By: Frank Huyler
- Narrated by: Gary Bennett
- Length: 6 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 59
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 53
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 52
In the late 1990s, a young physician in Albuquerque, New Mexico, published a stunning memoir of his experiences in the highly charged world of the ER. Presented in a series of powerful, poetic vignettes, The Blood of Strangers became an instant classic. Now, over two decades later, Dr. Frank Huyler delivers another dispatch from the trenches—this time from the perspective of middle age. In portraits visceral, haunting, sometimes surreal, Huyler reveals the gritty reality of medicine practiced on the razor’s edge between life and death.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Even Better than The Blood of Strangers
- By Elizabeth Darcy on 10-14-20
By: Frank Huyler
-
Burnt Out
- A Paramedic’s Memoir
- By: Chad Davis
- Narrated by: Michael Bower
- Length: 7 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 28
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 26
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 26
Chad shares the highs, the lows, and everything in between during his career as a paramedic, as well as the personal highs and lows. His stories highlight the dance between being fine, and burning out, as well as how the system fails to serve those who have dedicated their lives and careers to serving others.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
great
- By shel on 07-08-24
By: Chad Davis
-
This Is Going to Hurt
- Secret Diaries of a Young Doctor
- By: Adam Kay
- Narrated by: Adam Kay
- Length: 5 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 721
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 636
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 630
Welcome to 97-hour weeks. Welcome to life and death decisions. Welcome to a constant tsunami of bodily fluids. Welcome to earning less than the hospital parking meter. Wave goodbye to your friends and relationships. Welcome to the life of a first-year doctor. Scribbled in secret after endless days, sleepless nights, and missed weekends, comedian and former medical resident Adam Kay’s This Is Going to Hurt provides a no-holds-barred account of his time on the front lines of medicine.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Awesome
- By karen on 06-15-22
By: Adam Kay
-
Undoctored
- The Story of a Medic Who Ran Out of Patients
- By: Adam Kay
- Narrated by: Adam Kay, Reverend Richard Coles
- Length: 9 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 36
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 31
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 31
This Is Going to Hurt was the publishing phenomenon of the century, read by many millions, loved by at least fifty of them, and adapted into a major TV series. But it was only part of the story. By turns hilarious, heartbreaking and humbling, Undoctored is about what happens when a doctor hangs up his scrubs, but medicine refuses to let go of him. Undoctored is Adam Kay's funniest and most moving book yet—an astonishing portrait of a life in and out of medicine, from one of Britain's finest storytellers.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
The humor mixed with medicine
- By Anonymous User on 08-18-24
By: Adam Kay
-
The People's Hospital
- Hope and Peril in American Medicine
- By: Ricardo Nuila MD
- Narrated by: Ricardo Nuila MD
- Length: 10 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 72
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 61
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 61
Where does one go without health insurance, when turned away by hospitals, clinics, and doctors? In The People’s Hospital, physician Ricardo Nuila’s stunning debut, we follow the lives of five uninsured Houstonians as their struggle for survival leads them to a hospital where insurance comes second to genuine care.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Ben Taub Nurse
- By Patricia Gonzales on 05-11-23
By: Ricardo Nuila MD
-
The Nurses
- A Year of Secrets, Drama, and Miracles with the Heroes of the Hospital
- By: Alexandra Robbins
- Narrated by: Alexandra Robbins
- Length: 10 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 327
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 288
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 288
In The Nurses, New York Times best-selling author and award-winning journalist Alexandra Robbins peers behind the staff-only door to write a lively, fast-paced story and a riveting work of investigative journalism. Robbins followed real-life nurses in four hospitals and interviewed hundreds of others in a captivating audiobook filled with joy and violence, miracles and heartbreak, dark humor and narrow victories, gripping drama and unsung heroism.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Mostly on Point
- By Michael on 03-29-17
-
White Hot Light
- Twenty-Five Years in Emergency Medicine
- By: Frank Huyler
- Narrated by: Gary Bennett
- Length: 6 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 59
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 53
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 52
In the late 1990s, a young physician in Albuquerque, New Mexico, published a stunning memoir of his experiences in the highly charged world of the ER. Presented in a series of powerful, poetic vignettes, The Blood of Strangers became an instant classic. Now, over two decades later, Dr. Frank Huyler delivers another dispatch from the trenches—this time from the perspective of middle age. In portraits visceral, haunting, sometimes surreal, Huyler reveals the gritty reality of medicine practiced on the razor’s edge between life and death.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Even Better than The Blood of Strangers
- By Elizabeth Darcy on 10-14-20
By: Frank Huyler
-
Burnt Out
- A Paramedic’s Memoir
- By: Chad Davis
- Narrated by: Michael Bower
- Length: 7 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 28
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 26
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 26
Chad shares the highs, the lows, and everything in between during his career as a paramedic, as well as the personal highs and lows. His stories highlight the dance between being fine, and burning out, as well as how the system fails to serve those who have dedicated their lives and careers to serving others.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
great
- By shel on 07-08-24
By: Chad Davis
-
This Is Going to Hurt
- Secret Diaries of a Young Doctor
- By: Adam Kay
- Narrated by: Adam Kay
- Length: 5 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 721
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 636
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 630
Welcome to 97-hour weeks. Welcome to life and death decisions. Welcome to a constant tsunami of bodily fluids. Welcome to earning less than the hospital parking meter. Wave goodbye to your friends and relationships. Welcome to the life of a first-year doctor. Scribbled in secret after endless days, sleepless nights, and missed weekends, comedian and former medical resident Adam Kay’s This Is Going to Hurt provides a no-holds-barred account of his time on the front lines of medicine.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Awesome
- By karen on 06-15-22
By: Adam Kay
-
Undoctored
- The Story of a Medic Who Ran Out of Patients
- By: Adam Kay
- Narrated by: Adam Kay, Reverend Richard Coles
- Length: 9 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 36
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 31
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 31
This Is Going to Hurt was the publishing phenomenon of the century, read by many millions, loved by at least fifty of them, and adapted into a major TV series. But it was only part of the story. By turns hilarious, heartbreaking and humbling, Undoctored is about what happens when a doctor hangs up his scrubs, but medicine refuses to let go of him. Undoctored is Adam Kay's funniest and most moving book yet—an astonishing portrait of a life in and out of medicine, from one of Britain's finest storytellers.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
The humor mixed with medicine
- By Anonymous User on 08-18-24
By: Adam Kay
-
The People's Hospital
- Hope and Peril in American Medicine
- By: Ricardo Nuila MD
- Narrated by: Ricardo Nuila MD
- Length: 10 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 72
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 61
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 61
Where does one go without health insurance, when turned away by hospitals, clinics, and doctors? In The People’s Hospital, physician Ricardo Nuila’s stunning debut, we follow the lives of five uninsured Houstonians as their struggle for survival leads them to a hospital where insurance comes second to genuine care.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Ben Taub Nurse
- By Patricia Gonzales on 05-11-23
By: Ricardo Nuila MD
-
The Nurses
- A Year of Secrets, Drama, and Miracles with the Heroes of the Hospital
- By: Alexandra Robbins
- Narrated by: Alexandra Robbins
- Length: 10 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 327
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 288
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 288
In The Nurses, New York Times best-selling author and award-winning journalist Alexandra Robbins peers behind the staff-only door to write a lively, fast-paced story and a riveting work of investigative journalism. Robbins followed real-life nurses in four hospitals and interviewed hundreds of others in a captivating audiobook filled with joy and violence, miracles and heartbreak, dark humor and narrow victories, gripping drama and unsung heroism.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Mostly on Point
- By Michael on 03-29-17
Listener received this title free
As both the author and narrator, John Lawrence reveals the foundation of his medical training. He further describes in rich and vivid details his trials and tribulations in the first stages of his becoming a doctor. It is not only eye-opening but also disturbing how some of his learning/work played out in the journey of his career. His voice adds another dimension to the narrative as he brings a level of realism to the narrative drawing from his own true experiences.
A humorous and authentic memoir filled with anecdotes that leave the listener cringing at times and at other times surprised or laughing. A definite do not miss!
There were no issues with the quality or production of this audiobook.
Detailed, Humor Filled Medical Memoir
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Listener received this title free
Through an interesting blend of humour, self-deprecation, and moments of uncomfortableness, Lawrence’s candid narrative is both entertaining and somewhat terrifying at the same time. A side-effect of this book is that I think it’s actually diminished my faith in doctors and my trust in that they know what they’re doing.
Why? Early in this book, Lawrence jokes:
What do you call the lowest-placed graduate in medical school?
Doctor.
At which point I paused the audiobook and sat there thinking. Of course, there are plenty of professional gatekeepers and scrutiny by mentors in place so even the lowest-placed graduate is competent, however it was one of those moments where you can’t help but wonder. It’s a recurring theme throughout the book, at least as far as Lawrence’s education is concerned.
Hopefully I am overthinking it, because I do have to wonder how much of the story is unflinching honesty and how much is there for laughs. Lawrence freely admits that due to the head trauma he could remember very little of what he was taught, and continued to have issues long after first year, so I choose to take the stories with a grain of salt. I suspect it is, at least in part, hyperbole for the sake of a good story.
Some of the anecdotes had me cringing, either through second-hand embarrassment or because I am a bit squeamish when it comes to real-life descriptions of medical conditions. Some had me questioning the professionalism of the mentors in charge of the cohort of medical students and had me shaking my head and laughing like when Lawrence thought he received multiple spiders bite to the genitals.
John Lawrence also narrates his own memoir and does a reasonably good job at it. Narration by the author can often be hit-and-miss, but besides a few retakes being left in, the production value was quite good. Lawrence delivers his story clearly and at an appropriate pace.
In the end, “Playing Doctor” is a humorous memoir that also shows the human side of medicine. Lawrence’s journey from under-performing student to his graduation is a reminder that behind the white coats and stethoscopes are individuals grappling with doubt, insecurity, impostor syndrome and, yes, the occasional spider bite to the junk.
Humorous Memoir
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.