White Coat: Becoming a Doctor at Harvard Medical School

White Coat is Dr. Ellen Lerner Rothman's vivid account of her four years at Harvard Medical School. Describing the grueling hours and emotional hurdles she underwent to earn the degree of M.D., Dr. Rothman tells the story of one woman's transformation from a terrified first-year medical student into a confident, competent doctor. Touching on the most relevant issues in medicine today - such as HMOs, AIDS, and assisted suicide - Dr. Rothman recounts her despair and exhilaration as a medical student, from the stress of exams to the hard-won rewards that came from treating patients. The anecdotes in White Coat are funny, heartbreaking, and at times horrifying. Each chapter takes us deeper into Dr. Rothman's medical school experience, illuminating her struggle to walk the line between too much and not enough intimacy with her patients.