I have the honor to talk to John Lawrence today, the author of PLAYING DOCTOR. My questions are below, followed by John's answers.
1) Please tell us about yourself.
I am a parent (chronically stressed), husband (working on communication skills), biker (falls off too frequently), avid skier, screenwriter & filmmaker (left myself plenty of room to improve in both areas), runner, surfer (not really, I’m terrible), who enjoys cooking, watching films, reading and writing. The one thing I told my college career advisor I did not want to be was…a doctor…and now I’m a doctor.
2) Please tell us about your book.
The series Playing Doctor is intended to be an entertaining look behind the hospital doors of medical training. I took a slightly circuitous route to medical school (never planning to be a doctor) and after being accepted (surprisingly), started my training with short term memory loss and extreme fatigue due to some bike crash induced trauma — neither of which seemed advantageous for a medical student. The books follow the month-by-month rotations of medical training in medical school and residency.
3) What inspired you to write this book?
Slap-Happy call night fatigue in the hospitals! I used to send slightly manic stream of conscious emails to groups of friends when I was working overnight in hospital, sharing the stories of medical blunders, crazy patients, and the internal struggles with learning to be a doctor. When a friend asked about publishing the emails, I told her I would write the entire story. And the next day started writing. I hoped to entertain people with some blunt insight into doctor’s medical care, something almost everyone has experienced to a degree.
4) How long does it take you to write a book from start-to-finish?
It might have taken a year to write this book from start to finish. But that was for a first draft. One year. But then if we add in the research (i.e. four years of medical school, three years of residency training and the first year of working as a doctor), add the one year writing the first draft. Then sitting on it for years tweaking chapters, then rewriting each individual book, and rewriting after receiving editing notes….only a 15-year project! It’s one thing to sit and write a book (or screenplay), which after research and prep might take 3-6-12 months — but then the re-writing can take equally as long and if you’re not careful carry on indefinitely! That’s why deadlines are key for me to set some sort of end point.
5) What are you working on at the moment?
Final edits on book three in the Playing Doctor series which will come out in Summer 2022. Rewriting a comedy/drama screenplay I will produce and direct after these books are all launched.
I am a parent (chronically stressed), husband (working on communication skills), biker (falls off too frequently), avid skier, screenwriter & filmmaker (left myself plenty of room to improve in both areas), runner, surfer (not really, I’m terrible), who enjoys cooking, watching films, reading and writing. The one thing I told my college career advisor I did not want to be was…a doctor…and now I’m a doctor.
2) Please tell us about your book.
The series Playing Doctor is intended to be an entertaining look behind the hospital doors of medical training. I took a slightly circuitous route to medical school (never planning to be a doctor) and after being accepted (surprisingly), started my training with short term memory loss and extreme fatigue due to some bike crash induced trauma — neither of which seemed advantageous for a medical student. The books follow the month-by-month rotations of medical training in medical school and residency.
3) What inspired you to write this book?
Slap-Happy call night fatigue in the hospitals! I used to send slightly manic stream of conscious emails to groups of friends when I was working overnight in hospital, sharing the stories of medical blunders, crazy patients, and the internal struggles with learning to be a doctor. When a friend asked about publishing the emails, I told her I would write the entire story. And the next day started writing. I hoped to entertain people with some blunt insight into doctor’s medical care, something almost everyone has experienced to a degree.
4) How long does it take you to write a book from start-to-finish?
It might have taken a year to write this book from start to finish. But that was for a first draft. One year. But then if we add in the research (i.e. four years of medical school, three years of residency training and the first year of working as a doctor), add the one year writing the first draft. Then sitting on it for years tweaking chapters, then rewriting each individual book, and rewriting after receiving editing notes….only a 15-year project! It’s one thing to sit and write a book (or screenplay), which after research and prep might take 3-6-12 months — but then the re-writing can take equally as long and if you’re not careful carry on indefinitely! That’s why deadlines are key for me to set some sort of end point.
5) What are you working on at the moment?
Final edits on book three in the Playing Doctor series which will come out in Summer 2022. Rewriting a comedy/drama screenplay I will produce and direct after these books are all launched.
About the Book
Title: PLAYING DOCTOR; PART TWO: RESIDENCY: (Blundering along with imposter syndrome)
Author: John Lawrence
Ready to learn how (not) to be a doctor?
Well, neither was John.
John’s adventures in medical training continue with this insightful, often hilarious, self-deprecating medical memoir of bumbling into residency with a severe case of imposter syndrome. This second part in the series brings John’s unique, irreverent and candid med-school storytelling to the world of residency training.
Initially, John penned email blasts while being held captive on-call nights. His descriptions of the escapades, mishaps, disorder, and terror that surrounded his training, led several friends to enquire if he has broken into the hospital pharmacy. Eventually, someone asked to publish the stories, so John replied that he’d write down the whole adventure of becoming a doctor from medical school through residency.
Title: PLAYING DOCTOR; PART TWO: RESIDENCY: (Blundering along with imposter syndrome)
Author: John Lawrence
Ready to learn how (not) to be a doctor?
Well, neither was John.
John’s adventures in medical training continue with this insightful, often hilarious, self-deprecating medical memoir of bumbling into residency with a severe case of imposter syndrome. This second part in the series brings John’s unique, irreverent and candid med-school storytelling to the world of residency training.
Initially, John penned email blasts while being held captive on-call nights. His descriptions of the escapades, mishaps, disorder, and terror that surrounded his training, led several friends to enquire if he has broken into the hospital pharmacy. Eventually, someone asked to publish the stories, so John replied that he’d write down the whole adventure of becoming a doctor from medical school through residency.
Author Bio
John Lawrence was born in New York, grew up England, and attended Georgetown University where he told his career advisor that the only thing he did not want to be was a doctor. He subsequently survived medical school and residency training in Utah.
John was not the typical medical student, sneaking out of the hospital whilst on-call to audition for television shows; writing film scripts (also available on Amazon!) and overcoming imposter syndrome. He went on to work as a doctor for 20 years in both traditional western medicine and functional medicine.
John’s varied non-medical resume includes river rafting guide, ski race coach, bagel baker, screenwriter, film director, and expedition doctor climbing Kilimanjaro with Olympic Hall of Fame athlete Chris Waddell.
Links
Visit the author’s website: https://johnlawrencewriter.com/
Buy from Amazon
John Lawrence was born in New York, grew up England, and attended Georgetown University where he told his career advisor that the only thing he did not want to be was a doctor. He subsequently survived medical school and residency training in Utah.
John was not the typical medical student, sneaking out of the hospital whilst on-call to audition for television shows; writing film scripts (also available on Amazon!) and overcoming imposter syndrome. He went on to work as a doctor for 20 years in both traditional western medicine and functional medicine.
John’s varied non-medical resume includes river rafting guide, ski race coach, bagel baker, screenwriter, film director, and expedition doctor climbing Kilimanjaro with Olympic Hall of Fame athlete Chris Waddell.
Links
Visit the author’s website: https://johnlawrencewriter.com/
Buy from Amazon
RSS Feed
