Dr. Nolen takes us through the surgical residency and introduces us to the very real world where he was intern and chief resident for five years: New York's Bellevue State Hospital. Funny, compassionate, sometimes tragic, Nolen provides an intimate view of life in the wards, labs and operating rooms of a great hospital. "His book is devastatingly frank...a cornucopia of enthralling stories...an intensely human record of a young surgeon's apprenticeship." (Saturday Review)