A Surgeon's Journey: A Memoir of Life Choices

What does it take to make a surgeon? What does it take to unmake a surgeon? Jeff Wiseman was at the top of his career when he decided to quit and become a dairy farmer when he wasn't fishing his favorite streams. "A Surgeon's Journey "explores the tough issues around the failures of the hospital system, the joys and disappointments of a medical career, the pitfalls of patient care and the constant battle against death and disease. The author's message is to leave room for the human in an increasingly impersonal and bureaucratic system. A surgeon needs empathy as much as professional skill for without the first he or she become alienated from his patients, his colleagues and himself. In a book at once lyrical and self-critical Jeff Wiseman takes his readers on a journey of the soul sustained by professional comradeship of his colleagues and the humanity of his patients but often undermined by conflicting demands of both. Sometimes you have to say no and go fishing for your heart."