Survivor MD

In 1987, the WGBH series NOVA began a documentary project following seven Harvard Medical School students from admission to the "longest running boot camp in higher education" through their transformation into full-fledged doctors. Preceded by two earlier programs--So You Want to Be a Doctor and MD: The Making of a Doctor--the latest 3-hour epic, encapsulating 14 years of observation, is a highly entertaining, nail-biting, often humorous, occasionally tragic look at the whole metamorphosis--watching students who don't know a catheter from an IV line gradually turn into responsible, caring doctors. Fortunately, the chosen seven are an articulate, animated, and dedicated bunch, and as the cameras follow them through virtually every moment of their training, the embryonic docs share their thoughts and feelings on a wide variety of topics. From the oldest member of the group, a pony-tailed, motorcycle riding bear of a man who has no trouble admitting his fears of screwing up, but who also possesses an abundance of self-confidence and the ability to laugh at himself when the circumstance calls for it, to a student who, years later, finds herself shifting from doctor to patient when she requires surgery, Survivor MD charts the successes (and failures) of these aspiring physicians. Words of caution for the squeamish: NOVA doesn't flinch from showing corpses, dissected bodies, and the proverbial buckets of blood, but neither do they hold back on showing the rollercoaster emotions of these seven very unique individuals as they struggle through what has to be one of the toughest regimens imaginable. Highly recommended for high school (keeping in mind the warning about the graphic content), public and academic libraries. Editor's Choice. Aud: H, C, P. (J. Carlson)