Committed: Dispatches from a Psychiatrist in Training

by Adam Stern

Overview

Grey’s Anatomy meets One L in this psychiatrist’s charming and poignant memoir about his residency at Harvard.

Adam Stern was a student at a state medical school before being selected to train as a psychiatry resident at one of the most prestigious programs in the country. His new and initially intimidating classmates were high achievers from the Ivy League and other elite universities around the nation. Faculty raved about the group as though the residency program had won the lottery, nicknaming them “The Golden Class,” but would Stern ever prove that he belonged?

In his memoir, Stern pulls back the curtain on the intense and emotionally challenging lessons he and his fellow doctors learned while studying the human condition, and ultimately, the value of connection. The narrative focuses on these residents, their growth as doctors, and the life choices they make as they try to survive their grueling four-year residency. Rich with drama, insight, and emotion, Stern shares engrossing stories of life on the psychiatric wards, as well as the group’s experiences as they grapple with impostor syndrome and learn about love and loss. Most importantly, as they study how to help distressed patients in search of a better life, they discover the meaning of failure and the preciousness of success. 

Stern’s growth as a doctor, and as a man, have readers rooting for him and his patients, and ultimately find their own hearts fuller for having taken this journey with him.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780358435488
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	02/27/2024
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	325
Sales rank:	13,766
File size:	1 MB

About the Author

ADAM STERN, MD, is a psychiatrist at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and an assistant professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. He has written extensively about his experience as a physician including in the New York Times, the Boston Globe, the New England Journal of Medicine, the Journal of the American Medical Association, and the American Journal of Psychiatry. He lives with his family near Boston.

Table of Contents

Prologue xiii

Part 1 Year One

1 Welcome to Longwood 3

2 The Golden Class 14

3 It Will Pass, and You Will Be Fine 20

4 First Paycheck Party 33

5 The Mythical Day Team 38

6 Mania 46

7 The Lightbulb Has to Want to Be Changed 55

8 These Are Bad, but I Think You Can Do Worse 59

9 Night Float 69

10 Controlled Chaos 78

11 Insomnia and Electric Shocks 85

12 Bread-and-Butter Medicine 96

13 Stern and Sons 107

14 A Face Worth Licking 112

15 Tongue-Tied Cherry Stems South of the Border 117

Part 2 Year Two

16 Like the First Year, but More 125

17 Unwelcome Departures 136

18 Snoozers Lose 145

19 Tell Me What Brings You into the Office 155

20 The Irresistible Lure of Delivering Chinese Food 165

21 Just Needing Some Air 176

22 Some Kind of Chicken Sociopath 183

23 Like Free Therapy 190

24 The Joy and Sorrow of Musical Staircases 198

25 EXP 205

26 An Office with a Window 211

27 Friends Don't Have Sleepovers 217

Part 3 Years Three and Four,

28 Don't Just Do Something, Sit There 229

29 Being Present 243

30 California Nightmares 255

31 Not My Choice 264

32 The Match Redux 273

33 I've Got Muscles 279

34 An Impostor Once More 285

35 This Is Where Change Happens 292

In Memoriam 298

Acknowledgments 300

Editorial Reviews

★ 05/24/2021

Stern debuts with a mesmerizing memoir of the four years he spent in a psychiatry residency program at Harvard. He joined the staff in 2010, as part of a group of 15 residents, and was charged with observing patients in the emergency room and the psych ward, and working the grueling “night float,” which required working two consecutive weeks of overnights. While he admits that “managing patients was a never-ending maelstrom of chaos and uncertainty,” Stern came to understand that psychiatry is all about helping patients become their best selves “in spite of, or even because of, the immense challenges they face.” Throughout, he paints sensitive and often touching portraits of his patients, who dealt with everything from paranoia to anorexia to severe depression. In spending “half my day as a reflective window” for others’ struggles, he often carried their despair with him. At the same time, he writes, these intense trials led to deep bonds with the other residents—one of whom would eventually become his wife—and taught him how “to purposefully keep moving forward.” Compassionate and candid, this is as human as it gets. Agent: Karen Murgolo, Aevitas Creative Management. (July)

Publishers Weekly

"By turns funny and tragic, Committed pulls back the curtain on what it takes to become a psychiatrist–and how the practitioners, or the good ones, anyway, can put their own sanity on the line in the service of healing others." —People, Book of the Week pick "A mesmerizing memoir...[Stern] paints sensitive and often touching portraits of his patients, who dealt with everything from paranoia to anorexia to severe depression...Compassionate and candid, this is as human as it gets."—Publishers Weekly, STARRED "[A] dynamic debut memoir...As the author vividly captures the urgency, chaos, and eerie fascination involved with the treatment of mental illness, he also candidly shares numerous patient portraits, which provide some of the most moving and disturbing moments in the book...The combination of patient case studies and medical trainee journal creates an intense reading experience and an eye-opening appreciation for medical professionals charged with psychiatric care. Residents and those contemplating a career in mental health will find much to glean from this spirited memoir of dedication and dogged determination...Engrossing, indelible, and brimming with genuine humanity."—Kirkus, STARRED  "With high-stakes drama, interesting characters, and a predictably appealing protagonist, it's no wonder that medical memoirs are often compelling reading. Stern's is no exception as he recalls his four years of psychiatric residency training at Harvard...A sensitive chronicle about becoming a doctor and the value of human connection and empathic listening."—Booklist "This book is a fascinating look at the inside of a medical residency, and it offers a glimpse of many of the often-understated personal costs involved...Readers who have also experienced the vigor of professional academic training will find Stern’s account familiar and satisfying, while those who haven’t will get a rare and insightful glimpse into the many potential struggles involved...This well-written, engaging book will have a special appeal to those already in academia and will be of interest to those who are considering it." —Library Journal   —

From the Publisher

Author/narrator Adam Stern shares the challenges and experiences of taking on a four-year psychiatric residency at Harvard Medical School and how it changed his perspective and helped him form a better understanding of himself and humanity. With an informal narration style, Stern presents realistic and honest accounts of psychiatric patients, his scholarly journey, and his personal life. Using scenes of intriguing dialogue, he reflects compassionately upon difficult moments during his residency and provides listeners with a better understanding of working in the mental health field. In a casual and genuine fashion, Stern combines psychiatry with storytelling to share his discovery that there is power in connecting with others. D.Z. © AudioFile 2021, Portland, Maine

AUGUST 2021 - AudioFile

Author/narrator Adam Stern shares the challenges and experiences of taking on a four-year psychiatric residency at Harvard Medical School and how it changed his perspective and helped him form a better understanding of himself and humanity. With an informal narration style, Stern presents realistic and honest accounts of psychiatric patients, his scholarly journey, and his personal life. Using scenes of intriguing dialogue, he reflects compassionately upon difficult moments during his residency and provides listeners with a better understanding of working in the mental health field. In a casual and genuine fashion, Stern combines psychiatry with storytelling to share his discovery that there is power in connecting with others. D.Z. © AudioFile 2021, Portland, Maine

AUGUST 2021 - AudioFile

★ 2021-05-19
The highs and lows of a grueling four-year psychiatry residency.

As Stern notes in this dynamic debut memoir, though he was armed with the empathetic drive to “become an expert in the human condition,” he was unprepared for the difficult work he would face. After graduating from SUNY Syracuse, he matched with the residency program at Harvard Medical School in 2010. The author writes about how he was intimidated after being paired with classmates from more prestigious medical schools, but as the son of a cardiologist, high expectations were established early, which only added to the pressure to outperform the 14 other residency scholars in his class. After several shaky introductory shifts, Stern found his footing in a work environment characterized by elaborate clinical processes, murky treatment ethics, nagging self-doubt, and sheer physical exhaustion. Eventually, the author got worn down by weeks of consecutive overnight shifts handling the “firestorm” of a full patient caseload in the psych ward and rotation schedules in the emergency department. Nonetheless, Stern remained committed, and he was also able to find romantic fulfillment with a fellow resident, Rachel, who later became his wife. As the author vividly captures the urgency, chaos, and eerie fascination involved with the treatment of mental illness, he also candidly shares numerous patient portraits, which provide some of the most moving and disturbing moments in the book. Stern capably handled patients plagued with severe anorexia, manic depression, bipolar disorder, and schizophrenia, but he was still blindsided by some of the unique, situational “stuff we never covered in med school.” The combination of patient case studies and medical trainee journal creates an intense reading experience and an eye-opening appreciation for medical professionals charged with psychiatric care. Residents and those contemplating a career in mental health will find much to glean from this spirited memoir of dedication and dogged determination.

Engrossing, indelible, and brimming with genuine humanity.

Kirkus Reviews