Physician Assistant (PA): Recommended Reading

In medical school, Paul Farmer found his life’s calling: to cure infectious diseases and to bring the lifesaving tools of modern medicine to those who need them most. Kidder’s magnificent account takes us from Harvard to Haiti, Peru, Cuba, and Russia as Farmer changes minds and practices through his dedication to the philosophy that “the only real nation is humanity.”
At the heart of this book is the example of a life based on hope and on an understanding of the truth of the Haitian proverb “Beyond mountains there are mountains”–as you solve one problem, another problem presents itself, and so you go on and try to solve that one too.

Julia Fox Garrison refused to listen to the professionals she called Dr. Jerk and Dr. Panic, who -- after she suffered a massive, debilitating stroke at age thirty-seven -- told her she'd probably die, or to Nurse Doom, who ignored her emergency call button. Instead she heeded the advice of kind, gifted Dr. Neuro, who promised her he would "treat your mind as well as your body." Julia figured if she could somehow manage to get herself into a wheelchair, at least she'd always find parking. But after many, many months of hospitalization and rehab -- with the help of family, friends, and her own indomitable spirit -- Julia not only got into a wheelchair, but she got back out. Don't Leave Me This Way is the funny, inspiring, profoundly moving true story of a woman's fight for her life and dignity -- and her determined quest to awaken an entrenched, unfeeling medical community to the fact that there's always a human being inside every patient.