Room for Examination: More Than Skin Deep

One reviewer's comments describe well the book ROOM FOR EXAMINATION: "...wise, philosophical, honest, poignant, humorous, engagingly written, riveting, and never self-serving..." ROOM FOR EXAMINATION, by James Channing Shaw, promises to open eyes through an inside look into a career in clinical and academic medicine. It is a brutally honest account of one doctor's journey to become a specialist in skin diseases and his subsequent life in medicine. The memoir recounts the often troubled waters of an academic medical career, while celebrating the joys (and sorrows) of treating patients. Dr. Shaw can be critical of his colleagues as well as himself, and pulls no punches when it comes to healthcare delivery and the greed and unethical behavior that can take place at high levels. Some of the highlights of the book include stories of AIDS patients in the earliest phases of the epidemic and controversies that surrounded the care of those patients by doctors everywhere. Other highlights include the SARS epidemic, heart and kidney transplant patients, fierce competition for residencies, and the enlightening differences between healthcare in the United States where Dr. Shaw trained and practiced for twenty years, and Canada where he has resided for the last twelve years. The memoir also contains a disturbing account of one resident-in-training who left behind a trail of fraudulent acts, and the lenience repeatedly granted to him by national and state medical organizations too timid to revoke his license. Some stories of patients he has modified from articles published in the LA Times, medical journals and in his blog, james-channing-shaw.blogspot.com.

James Channing Shaw teaches dermatology at the University of Toronto. His writings about the practice of medicine have been published in the L.A. Times, blogs and journals. His own blog: james-channing-shaw.blogspot.com covers medical, political, and a wide array of other topics, including jazz and food.