The Yale Guide to Careers in Medicine and the Health Professions Pathways to Medicine in the 21st Century Robert M. Donaldson, Kathleen S. Lundgren, Howard M. Spiro

Can I become a doctor? Should I? How can I find out? What is it like to be in medical school? What other careers in the health field might be right for me? What are the satisfactions and pitfalls of a career in medicine? For anyone pondering a career in medicine or a related health profession, this book is an invaluable guide. It contains the firsthand advice of men and women working in the health field today. These diverse professionals describe how and why they made their career choices and what the journey has been like. They tell their stories with candor and humor, sharing their personal circumstances, experiences, uncertainties, and triumphs. More than seventy medical and health professionals, including physicians, biomedical researchers, nurses, chiropractors, medical sociologists, and others, contribute to the volume. They represent many individual viewpoints and speak from different stages of their careers. The distilled wisdom of this group conveys more comprehensively and openly than ever before what it means to choose a career in medicine.

Robert M. Donaldson is David Paige Smith Professor of Medicine Emeritus, Yale University School of Medicine. Kathleen S. Lundgren is editorial fellow, Institution for Social and Policy Studies, Yale University. Howard Spiro is Professor of Medicine Emeritus, Yale University School of Medicine.

"A very good guide for anyone coming to the decision to pursue a medical career at any point... a comprehensive, positive, but wholly realistic overview of the medical profession." Jane D. Cary, Director, Health Professions Advising, Princeton University "The wisdom, practical advice, and comprehensive experiences of the contributors make this book beneficial for any person seeking academic or career guidance. College and career counselors will find it very useful." Mike Murphy, Headmaster, Pace Academy