Newly minted doctor Jane McGill is in hell.
Not literally, of course. But between her drug addict patients, sleepless nights on call, and battling wits with the sadistic yet charming Sexy Surgeon, Jane can’t imagine an afterlife much worse than her first month of medical internship at County Hospital.
And then there’s the devil herself: Jane’s senior resident Dr. Alyssa Morgan. When Alyssa becomes absolutely hell-bent on making her new interns pay tenfold for the deadly sin of incompetence, Jane starts to worry that she may not make it through the year with her soul or her sanity still intact.
My Review:
The Devil Wears Scrubs is a humorous look at the weary world of the medical intern. With personal experience as her insight, Freida McFadden crafted a book enjoyable for both the medical community and those who are glad we were never medical interns alike. Great writing and a colorful cast of characters keeps this a quick and enjoyable read.
Author Interview:
I was lucky enough to be able to catch Freida McFadden for an interview about herself and The Devil Wears Scrubs. Here is what she had to share about writing, internships and her book.
Q1. I loved your portrayal of the painful existence of an Intern. What was the inspiration behind The Devil Wears Scrubs?
My own experiences. It’s actually scarily close to my actual internship.
Q2. Doctor Jane McGill is a great character. Is she based on yourself or any other interns you knew?
Mostly just me, although I did use some stories told to me by others.
Q3. I am a fan of your blog, A Cartoon Guide To Becoming a Doctor. I loved your recent transcription error share. What prompted you to start writing about medical humor and how do you find the time to write?
I find that if there’s something you really love to do, you can always make time to do it. For me, that’s writing. Conversely, there’s always a way to weasel out of doing something you don’t want to do!
4. Why did you decide to become of a doctor? Was medical school and being an intern what you expected?
My reasons for going to med school are complicated. And no, it wasn’t really what I expected. It’s sort of like having a kid—nobody can explain to you what it’s really like until you’re living it.
5. Can we expect to see more books from you in the future? Are you currently working on anything?
I’m working on a book now about the competitive nature of medical school. It’s sort of a thriller, but still fairly true to my real experiences.
About the Author:
Freida McFadden is a physician who has finally finally finally come to the end of her training and is still intact to write about it.
Excerpt:I find Alyssa sitting in the resident lounge, which is her working area of choice when we’re on call. She’s wearing blue scrubs that make her eyes look bluer. Alyssa isn’t beautiful, although sometimes I wish she were because it would give me another reason to hate her. She’s on the cusp of beautiful, but she’s a little too skinny, a little too tall, her forehead a little too long. My mother always says that the forehead is what makes the face. I’m not sure I agree with that one, but Alyssa’s forehead definitely isn’t doing her any favors.
Alyssa must be as sleep deprived as I am, but she doesn’t look it. Her straight brown hair is swept back into… I think it’s a chignon, although I truthfully don’t know what the hell a chignon is. Not one little hair is out of place. Her eyes aren’t bloodshot and don’t have little purple circles under them, like I know mine do without even looking in a mirror. And she smells good. Nothing in this hospital smells good, except somehow Alyssa does.
“Hi,” I say timidly.
Alyssa is flipping through her index cards. She carries around a pack of index cards on which she catalogues information about all our patients, and possibly one about me too. My biggest fantasy is stealing her index cards and watching her flounder. Then I get disgusted with myself that stealing index cards has now become my biggest fantasy. In any case, she doesn’t look up from her cards when she speaks to me.
“Are you ready?” she asks me.
She’s not really asking me if I’m ready. She’s really saying to me, “You better be ready and not be wasting my time, girlie.” I wring my fists together and in the process, I crumple my notes slightly. Even though it’s three in the morning, I’ve got a little surge of adrenaline going.
“I’m ready,” I say, with all the finality of someone pledging her marriage vows.
Alyssa gestures at the couch across from her. I’m not allowed to actually sit next to her while we talk. I’m lucky she lets me sit at all. I can imagine her forcing me to stand at the doorway, maybe on one foot.
Before I can open my mouth, Alyssa says, “What took you so long?”
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