Why Must Read The House of God?

I am not a doctor but most of my immediate family is. I was raised by two MDs, my grand-father was a surgeon, my younger brother, my uncles were doctors or dentist. And then I was born and raised in France, so how could this book describing tong-in-cheek the excesses of internship in the US speak to me? It seems that the same causes generate the same effects: constant brushes with disease and death; excruciatingly long work hours with the day job sometimes followed by the emergency night before the next day's job; the necessity for a mental shield against burn-out from both these sources naturally causes cynicism and a form of alienation very acutely described by the author. My younger brother once told me on a Wednesday morning he was already working overtime for the week (more than 40h of work in just over two days). He was in Paris' public hospital system, therefore without all this layer of medicine for money that also exudes from the house of God. Doctors' suicides? This is too raw a topic for me to mention here. By far most of the testimonies from doctors I know support the case. How does what I know of the medical cursus in France match this testimony? As it turns out the title "House of God" is explicitly a direct translation of "L'Hôtel Dieu", the first and oldest hospital in the world, which is in Paris right next to Notre Dame. Did I enjoy reading this book? YES, at multiple levels - it is well written, fun to read and does give a very interesting perspective on this poorly known underworld. It did jive with what I know of the milieu, but I don't think it is necessary to know anything of it to enjoy the read. Let's just say that I read it on the recommendation by two very different doctors who don't know each other, one German and one New Englander. Not for the faint of heart, but if you like cringing dark humor and a walk on the wild side you should enjoy House of God.