Committed: Dispatches from a Psychiatrist in Training

by Adam Stern

Grey's Anatomy meets One L in this psychiatrist's funny and moving memoir about his residency at Harvard Medical School. Adam Stern was a medical student at SUNY Upstate Medical University before (incomprehensibly to him) being selected to train as a psychiatry resident at one of the most prestigious programs in the country. His classmates were high achievers from Harvard, Yale, and Duke; faculty raved about the group as though they had won the lottery, nicknaming them "The Golden Class." In his memoir, Stern pulls back the curtain on the intense, and often demoralizing lessons he and his fellow doctors learned while studying the human condition. The narrative will focus on six of the residents, their growth as doctors, the challenges with their patients (and each other), and the life choices each of them make as they survive their four-year residency. Rich with drama and emotion, Stern shares engrossing stories of life on the psychiatric wards, but also the group's experiences as they grapple with impostor syndrome, finding and losing love, crazy patients, and the suicide of a beloved mentor. AUTHOR: Adam Stern, MD, is a psychiatrist at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and an assistant professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. He has written extensively about his experience as a physician including in the New York Times, the Boston Globe, the New England Journal of Medicine, the Journal of the American Medical Association, and the American Journal of Psychiatry. He lives with his family near Boston.

• ISBN13: 9780358434733
• Publish Date: 28 September 2021
• Publish Status: Unknown
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 320
• Language: English

Reviews

[Witty and Sarcastic Bookclub]

Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with this book in exchange for my honest opinion. This book will be available on July thirteenth.

Committed: Dispatches from a Psychiatrist in Training is an engrossing look into the lives of those learning how to help those with mental illnesses and provide quality mental health care. Told from the perspective of Adam, a psychiatrist-in-training, it follows his life as he tries to navigate the world of mental health care as well as his personal life.

I don’t read memoirs all that often. In fiction, I do not need to relate to or like a character to enjoy the book- I just want them to be interesting. In nonfiction, it helps if I care about the person the book is about. Adam was supremely human and very open about both his strengths and weaknesses. That takes bravery on the part of the author. He vacillated between feeling very out of his depth and unqualified and seemingly having extreme bouts of self-confidence. I can definitely relate to feeling unqualified as I am well acquainted with Imposter Syndrome in most aspects of my life.

I loved seeing Adam’s growth in his ability to properly diagnose and treat patients, but more importantly in his ability to connect with his patients. He realized that his patients are more than just a diagnosis and list of medications: they are real people with unique stories, backgrounds, and experiences. Watching his empathy and understanding grow was an incredibly rewarding experience.

The patients themselves were fascinating. I wanted them all to find the help they needed and defeat their personal demons. I could feel the sadness in Adam Stern when a patient was lost (spoiler alert: not every patient has a happy ending). I could also see his excitement and renewed sense of purpose when a patient improved.

I did sometimes find the switch from Adam’s psychiatric situations to his dating life a little bit jarring from time to time. I understand why it was there-to highlight the way a profession in mental health affects every aspect of a person’s life- but I struggled to pay attention during those parts. It just wasn’t as interesting to me.

Taken as a whole, I found Committed to be a fascinating look at life as a mental health expert. It is an important profession, when taken up by caring individuals, and I have the utmost respect for Dr. Adam Stern for the aid he is able to provide.