Sophia C. reviewed on 4/18/2012 + 289 more book reviews

Helpful Score: 1

Hot Nights, Cold Steel is the autobiography of an orthopedic residency. Dr. Michael J. Collins came to the prestigious Mayo Clinic out of medical school feeling unprepared, but through 2 years as a junior resident and 2 as a senior (and then chief) resident, he found the experience worthwhile. Collins manages to pepper the story with salty humor despite the hard times, including horrific traumas, extreme sleep deprivation, and moonlighting at a rural ER to make ends meet for his growing family. (He fathered children 3 children, #2-4 of 12!, during residency.) However, there are also serious moments where the author contemplates the meaning of this never-ending work; such moments becomes more frequent as his seniority grows and the chapters become more spaced out. Like other books in this genre, this is a retrospective approximation which inherently paints the protagonist in a favorable light, the one who preservers. Nonetheless, Hot Nights, Cold Steel is a fine memoir by an orthopod (often stereotyped as the dumb jocks of the medical world) with a truly supportive wife.

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