Jay Baruch offers readers a series of multi-layered stories focusing on caregivers–both professionals (doctors and nurses primarily), family members, and those they are trying to care for. The setting for a number of the stories (and therefore a number of the characters) is from the working class. Another group of stories is written from the perspective of medical students, residents, or physicians early in their training. In all the stories, the characters’ lives are full of conflict. The language they use to express themselves is raw and direct. There are no simple solutions to their problems. Yet struggle on do these characters, testing the limits of their compassion and abilities to deliver care at least competently. 

First published in 2007 by Kent State University Press, Baruch’s book was a powerful new voice in the growing field of young physician-writers. Dr. Baruch is a Professor of Emergency Medicine at the Alpert Medical School at Brown University, where he serves as Director of the Medical Humanities and Bioethics Scholarly Concentration. Many of the works here revolve around specific ethical issues that health care workers and families face trying to care for patients, which make this collection useful for health care ethics courses. A well-crafted essay about writing from the Emergency Department is included as an Afterword. 

A previous version of this review was published in the NYU Literature, Arts and Medicine Database 
Web image created by Medhum.org