White Hot Light: Twenty-Five Years in Emergency Medicine

White Hot Light is a collection of short, compelling personal essays/narratives, mostly about Frank Huyler’s life in emergency medicine. A few of the pieces focus on memories of childhood and youth, and a couple of others highlight medical culture—the separate worlds of doctors and nurses, the resistance of specialists to having difficult or complex cases handed over to them from the ER, and the petty prejudices that patients wish doctors could somehow rise above. The stories are not strictly medical. They focus less on anatomy, pathology, and procedures than on moral and ethical dilemmas. Huyler is honest about his own fears, failings, and fatigue and how these have impacted his medical decision making and the care he’s provided over the years. Some stories present patients as raw, animal selves; others convey a sense of what it’s like to deal with humans at their most vulnerable, as they attempt to preserve what dignity they have left. Throughout, Huyler is determined to maintain his humanity, acknowledging how much easier the work would be if he walled himself off from the suffering of others. The writing is exceptional and nuanced—literary without being ostentatious. For all these reasons, I think the book would appeal to those who normally steer clear of nonfiction. I recommend it highly.

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3.5* It was good. I don't think I'll read it again but it was a nice and fast read. Learned a lot about ER doctors/nurses. Very insightful. ( )