Something for the Pain: One Doctor's Account of Life and Death in the ER | 
 enlarge | Author: Paul Austin
Publisher: W. W. Norton
Category: Book
List Price: $24.95
Buy New: $12.47
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Rating:  18 reviews
Sales Rank: 33224
Media: Hardcover
Edition: 1
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 256
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.8
Dimensions (in): 8.3 x 5.7 x 1.1
ISBN: 039306560X
Dewey Decimal Number: 616.025092
EAN: 9780393065602
ASIN: 039306560X
Publication Date: September 8, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: Brand New. 100% money back guarantee. All books shipped from Strand Bookstore, New York City, USA.
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Product Description
In this riveting memoir, an ER doctor reveals how his high-stress career of helping others led to a struggle to save himself.
"It turns out there are all kinds of things about working in an ER that most of us haven't learned from TV or having sat in one. In Something for the Pain, Paul Austin—the ER doc you'd hope to get if something really bad happened—tells us, vividly and with uncommon candor, how, if you aren't careful, saving people's lives can make you sick."—Ted Conover, author of Newjack
In this eye-opening account of life in the ER, Paul Austin recalls how the daily grind of long, erratic shifts and endless hordes of patients with sad stories sent him down a path of bitterness and cynicism. His own life becomes Exhibit A, as he details the emotional detachment that estranges him from himself and his family. Gritty, powerful, and ultimately redemptive, Austin's memoir is a revealing glimpse into the fragility of compassion and sanity in the industrial setting of today's hospitals.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 13 more reviews...
 The symptoms of an ER doctor January 7, 2009
If you are an ER doctor or nurse, I am sure you will love this book. Paul's description of life in an ER will make most of you look good and worthy of sympathy. The stresses and strains of an ER doc are described realistically and exhibit themselves in symptomatic behaviors in himself that Paul wishes he could change. Much of the book is about his attempts at bringing about the change. Probably because of his previous lives as a Quaker, a garbage collector, and a fireman, the patients are not singled out as the cause of the stress. Paul makes an attempt at describing how the stresses of the ER are filtered through him and into his family. I suspect, in order to protect his family, only peeks and glimpses appear in his wall of protection. This attempt is the weakness of the book. Since I am not in the medical profession, I woul like to have read more about the effects on his family and their reactions. This would have provided a better understanding of the high cost of being an ER doc. Of course, if he had done that, he would have to of dealt with the high cost of being a writer.
 Interesting and very well-written January 4, 2009
The author is such a gifted writer, it's hard to believe he's actually a seasoned ER doctor too.
This is a man who tries to bring humanity to an environment which is chronically understaffed and where patients and their families can, at times, be unappreciative or even hostile. There's not a single sentence that doesn't ring true, nor a hint of self-importance or arrogance.
Another takeaway, at least for this reader: the author never suggests he's underpaid - even though he obviously is.
Buy this book to de-mystify the ER. It's likely that one day you'll be there yourself, or waiting for someone else.
Real life December 22, 2008
This should be required reading for all medical students! It provides a wonderful glimpse into the real life world of the doctor in training.
Author of The Blue Cotton Gown confirms the truth of Paul Austin's book November 30, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Paul Austin's book Something for the Pain is compelling from the first chapter. What makes it riveting is the truth of his observations about the medical life and his willingness to reveal his inner struggle.
As a Nurse-Midwife, and author of The Blue Cotton Gown: A Midwife's Memoir, [[ASI N:0807072893 The Blue Cotton Gown: A Midwife's Memoir]] I know that self-revelation is risky. You must ask yourself, how will I feel if my patients read this.
As the spouse of an OB/Gyn, I know that physicians are trained to exhibit confidence. For a doc to share his inner life, his sadness, emotional isolation and doubt, is a gift.
Every physician and nurse should read this book. Every health care provider in training should read this book. Everyone who has ever gone to a doctor or will go to a doctor should read this book, and that includes all of us.
Dr. Paul Austin will take you in the ER and reflect on his personal life November 18, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
What a great story about Dr.Paul Austin and his life inside and outside of the ER. The story was very personal and moving. This story gave me a look inside of what goes on in the ER and how it feels to the patient, and the doctor treating you. This is a book to read for inspiration and the true reality of life inside & outside of the ER.
Buy it as a gift for someone! It will change their way of thinking.
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