Author's posts
The laws of The House of God and Man’s 4th Best Hospital
Forty-two years ago, when I had finally finished the seven revisions of my first novel, The House of God, my editor said, “Why don’t you add a glossary and a list of The Laws of the House of God.” Writing the Laws, I hardly needed to refer to the text…
Orientation to HEAL: the 4th best electronic medical record
An excerpt from Man’s 4th Best Hospital, Now available in paperback from Penguin/Berkley. And in the Fat Man Clinic, what about billing? We would do it ourselves on our screens. Using HEAL, the EHR or Electronic ‘Health’ Record system that BUDDIES had …
The evolution of the “doctor visit”
Years and years ago, I wrote a novel called The House of God, based largely on my experiences as an intern at what was then known as Beth Israel Hospital in Boston. At its core, the book was about the injustice in medical training. A lot has changed in…
We’re not trying to survive, but to humanize
An excerpt from Man’s 4th Best Hospital. “Why am I here?” the Fat Man was saying to us, his team gathered for the first time around in his new public clinic leaning up against one of the soaring buildings of Man’s 4th. “And why are you? One day I…
