4 out of 4 stars
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Medical operations really hurt especially when patients are subjected to harmful procedures as a result of the doctors’ negligence. Doctors negligence could result into loss of life and untold suffering to the patients if at all they survive from the hand of the negligent medics. This novel The Surgeon's Wife by William H. Coles is a story about Mike Boudreaux, who must sacrifice his friendship with his mentor and well-respected professor Clayton Otherson and take disciplinary action against him for his persistent medical negligence. Clayton is a specialist in surgery for patients who are seeking to lose weight by removal of the extra fat from their tummies. Unfortunately, he does not follow the medically prescribed procedures for such operations hence leaving patients with bad experiences. This has been going on for some time. Mike being the Chief officer of the institution must thus take disciplinary action against him since Clayton has refused to listen to the voices of reason to stop the surgical methods of weight loss and apply alternative methods on his patients. However, in the course of his disciplinary management, Mike falls in love with Clayton’s beautiful wife, Catherine. Claytons threatens violence on Mike and Catherine. On the other hand, Mike and Catherine are struggling for respect in the contempt of New Orleans society.
I loved the themes discussed by the author in this novel. The themes discussed in this novel include love and romance, technology in the medical field, marriage and family life, divorce, discrimination and poverty just to mention a few. These are themes that represent the features in the society. They depict the real situation in the society. For instance, the picture of technological advancement posing technical problems to some medics was really excellent. It shows a picture of doctors grappling to be at par with the technological advancement. Doctors like Clayton are having a hard time adapting to new technologies in the medical field. The authors advice on how to go about such situations I believe is useful for all medics. He advises medics having similar problems to Clayton to exploit alternative methods to treatment or go on training on how to use the new equipment.
Secondly, I loved the manner in which the author depicts the typical life of a doctor in this novel. He portrays doctors as persons who are highly consumed into their activities and rarely has time for leisure and his family. He asserts that doctors are too engaged in their jobs, unromantic and is the reason why their marriages are breaking down. He provokes medics to spend more time with their loved ones. I believe that was a wake-up call for doctors to try and create balance between their social life and their work life.
One thing I disliked in the novel is characters like Clayton Otherson. Clayton is egocentric, ungrateful, unreasonable, annoying and arrogant. He thinks he is the super doctor who knows it all in the medical world. Moreover, he is unwilling to accept criticism when he is on the wrong side. After he is helped or corrected for being unable to go about a medical procedure on a patient, he is unappreciative and thinks the other doctor is doing it for fame. He also fails to report to training recommended to him to learn more about medical surgeries in weight loss programme in the hope that he knows it all and there is nothing new he will learn. That is a wrong approach to the medical profession. Doctors should swallow their ego, accept corrections whenever they are wrong in their duty and have an open mind willing to learn new things from their colleagues.
This novel is well edited except for an error that I found therein. I award it 4 out of 4 stars. It depicts the real happenings in the medical practice. It has a compelling content and is educative to doctors. I had no reason to deduct a star. I recommend it to all medical students and medical practitioners. It contains a horde of medical information on how medics can go about their profession.
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The Surgeon's Wife
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