A scan of the table of contents gives an accurate idea of the focus of the book — and what a wide-angle lens Holtz is using. He covers the patient's first presentation, the physical exam, tests, computer analysis, the whiteboard of the differential diagnosis, choosing treatments, bedside manner, and the health care team.
That last one, which discusses nurses among other careers nearly invisible on the television show, is one sign that we're not really talking about House.
Holtz quotes a nurse at an actual hospital in Princeton about how she would deal with House's attitude: "I would have that physician in my office, and there would be a discussion about what appropriate communication is, and how I would not accept that kind of behaviour."
A wordy disclaimer on the cover informs the reader that no one involved with the show authorized or endorsed the book -- they might as well have said, "they wouldn't touch it with a ten foot pole." So I suppose it's futile to hope that creator David Shore might be inspired by that particular quote, because I would pay good money to see how well that discussion would go over with our fictional hero.
The perspective on the character of House is far different in Holtz's book than on the small screen. The renegade hero of fiction is the dinosaur of reality, according to one physician: "In some ways, it is a vision from years past of the doctor as an iconoclastic, brilliant, virtuoso free spirit, who does it his own way and the hospital is there to do his bidding."
Fortunately, Holtz's informative book never loses sight of the fact that an iconoclastic, brilliant, virtuoso free spirit is likely to be far more interesting than the tamed doctors who supposedly exist today. Plus, the glimpse of how well House stays rooted in reality, while taking liberties for dramatic flair, actually highlights the beautiful balancing act performed by the show each week.
The Medical Science of House, M.D. by Andrew Holtz is available from Penguin books.
Article comments
1 - Morgenstern
"It's perhaps especially so for us non-Americans who might relish an engaging lesson in the US health care system we think we know so much about, usually from fictional sources."
Looks like I will have to buy that book, seeing that my view of the medical system in the US was largely formed by Samuel Shem's "House of God" (no, it's not a typo, it's not called "House is God"). *cough, cough* ;o)
2 - Bell
I saw the episode, 1-08-08, where the patient came in thinking he had Fibromyalgia and Fatique Syndrome. Dr. House went to the candy machine got a hand full of candy,put it in a med-bottle and gave it to the patient. I have both disorders and all that goes with them. That sent such a negative message to the public.It is hard enough to get the medical community as well as family members to take these auto-immune disodeers seriously, and that one scene did not help. The writers did not deal intelligently with a very serious illness, not to mention the pain Fibromyalgia causes.
3 - Diane Kristine
That's the pilot episode from 2004. The point was that the patient did not have fibromyalgia or chronic fatigue. Because if he did, he wouldn't have responded to a placebo. In other words, the "message" of the scene is they're real illnesses.
4 - Bell
Thank you very much. I understood that the patient did not have either. Do you think that viewrs will accept that scene as the patiernt did not have f/cfd or that there aren't such illnesse?
5 - Diane Kristine
I guess it depends on how astute the viewer is. Most probably didn't give it a thought either way, to tell the truth! But I'm not sure you can fault the show even if people misunderstand the scene's intention (because you're not the only one with those illnesses upset by that scene ... you're just a little later than most of them :)
6 - Bell
Thank you very much for responding. "House" is one of my favorite programs. Glad to hear some others actually paid attention to that scene. Much success with the sale of your Book. Bell