And So Can You by Dr.Roopleen - Book Review

 

I got an opportunity to review the book “And So Can You” by Dr. Roopleen as part of BlogAdda’s Book Review program. Thank you BlogAdda! The book is about the success stories of 17 doctors in India who excelled in their fields. The tagline for the book is, ”A book every doctor and medical student must read.”
 

Each of the doctors is mapped to a virtue of character like Tenacity, Courage, Passion, Fire in the Belly and their short biography is proof of this virtue of theirs. Each of the biographies starts with a colour photo of the doctor along with their qualification.  It is followed by an inspiring quote. The career trajectory, achievements, challenges and oppositions faced, and life lessons of each doctor are discussed in about 12 to 15 pages. The biography ends with a short philosophical summary. The last part of each biography has ‘Advice to Young and Aspiring Doctors’ and ‘Takeaway – Words of Wisdom’ sections.

As you read the book, you find that some of the doctors chose their field of specialization based on some tragedy in their home. Dr. Ashok Khurana’s grandmother had a cataract problem. So, he opted to specialize in Opthamaology.  Dr. Virendar Sarwal’s father died of a massive heart attack. So, he opted to specialize in cardiothoracic surgery.

Dr. Krishna Murthy advises young doctors saying that, “In this profession, you’ll often find your patients praising you and holding you in awe. This can be very addictive. Don’t let their admiration go to your head. Always remember that after every success, you are only closer to your next failure as the law of the averages will catch up with you. “

Dr.Jas Kohli advises, ”Snobbish attitude doesn’t work in medical sciences. Those patients who had good rapport with me took complications in their stride. Moreover, if they had any issue, they would discuss with me frankly so that appropriate action could be taken at an early stage.”

Dr. Sarbjit Singh shares a valuable life lesson - in life, you will come across many people with negative attitude. They will try to pull you down and put up obstacles in your path. However, you must remain steadfast, believe in self, remain motivated, and march towards your goals, ignoring them.

The amount of work a doctor does in a day seems astounding. One example was of Dr. Sarbjit Singh who used to examine 150 patients and perform 20-30 surgeries, all in a single day.

The incidents of violence against doctors by some patients are discussed. But all the doctors seem to focus on the positive attributes of their profession rather than dwell on the negative aspects such as patient unrest or hard and long working hours.

Almost all the doctors agree that money and power is not their ultimate goal. Work and service is their goal and money is just a by-product. Many of the doctors are authors and have penned their own non-fiction and fiction books.

The book has 261 pages and is published by Power Publishers.  The current cost of the book in Amazon India is Rs.288. The book will be a good guide for upcoming doctors who need role models in their professions and need to know about the ups and downs of the life of a doctor. And anyone curious about the medical profession and life of doctors can read it too. Happy Reading J

This review is a part of the biggest Book Review Program for Indian Bloggers. Participate now to get free books!