Do No Harm

"Do No Harm" is a revealing memoir by an imminent physician. It is educational as he reflects on his youthful athletics and the sexual abuse of others by a volunteer coach. But it is also entertaining as he chronicles his experiences on his grandparent's immigrant farms, his introduction to wilderness, and his successful state high school basketball and baseball championships. While becoming an adult he took a year out of medical school to test research as a career and to travel the world. His summer of 1961 and his travels behind the iron curtain into Russia were risky at the time, and he makes the journey exciting and entertaining.

"Finding Love" is a touching chapter on coming of age, and almost missing a connection to his life partner. His medical career was interrupted during specialty training to become a general medical officer of U.S. Naval landing ships operating from Japan to Vietnam. In "War Zone" he describes the men who fought the Vietnam War, a war's battle, and the navy ship's commanding officer he had to remove. "Life on the Beach" gives a glimpse into an American family's life in rural Japan in the mid 1960s.

Chapters like "Teaching Sex in Sunday School," "Accidental Trafficking," "Go by Land," and "The Road Less Travelled" give a picture of the unconventional and interesting life he and his family have lived.

In a series of chapters about his U.S. medical practice, he recounts his experiences as pulmonary and critical care physician, a maximum-security-prison consultant, defending his practice in court, and his public policy advocacy for reducing tobacco consumption. In "An Unexpected Reunion" he recounts the burying of his Dartmouth Medical School class's cadavers and visiting the site at a reunion 55 years later.

"The Final Chapter," his operating principles, and his lists of beliefs and values are inspirational and worth twice the price of the book.