[.ca] The Dressing Station: A Surgeon's Chronicle of War and ... (ISBN 0802117074)

how to blow up a very short story:
nice material for a profile in the new yorker magazine but 400 pages of hardcover padding is another recent example of surgeons and patients who have an interesting experience that is simply not enough to fill a whole book.

Very good:
Political and socialist views aside, the book was a great read. The author has the worst case of wanderlust I have ever seen, and can't seem to sit still for five minutes. I especially enjoyed the cruise ship experiences.

Socialist propaganda thinly disguised as a medical journal:
This book is well-written with some fascinating insights into modern medicine but most of the book is political in nature. The author admits his Socialist bias at the beginning of the book and criticizes American medical care at every opportunity. He arrogantly portrays himself as having had more "hands-on" education than American surgeons and that Socialist medicine is far more advanced in the areas of research and general patient care. I beg to differ! Anyone who has lived in a Socialist or Communist nation knows that this is simply not true! People wait for weeks, even months to receive surgery and are treated as less-than-human when they are finally treated.

Man's inhumanity:
You do not meet many people like Dr Jonathan Kaplan, more's the pity. In this beastly world, where there's so much death and destruction, we need people to pick up the pieces, and not many can or do. Not many are even capable of doing so. Dr Kaplan is multi-talented - he has certainly picked up the pieces and sewn them together and saved lives in war zones around the world. This is voluntary work, and the stories are horrific. I cannot understand how he could be criticized for it. It is lucky that he can also write so well, and give the rest of us an idea of what is really going on. The account of the rough times is broken by a welcome break as he describes his time as a ship's doctor, and as a doctor, flying anywhere in the world to check out patients for insurance companies. He gives interesting background to the various conflicts he finds himself in and the people he meets and also side trips he sometimes is able to make in the numerous countries he finds himself in. He was even able to take a quick trip around my island, Bali, when the cruise ship dropped anchor there. Maybe I met him. I would recommend this book to anyone. It is well written and readable and has won several prizes already. It will give you an insight into another slice of life.

A great story about modern wartime medicine!:
If you're considering a medical career and would like to learn more about medicine while reading a highly entertaining and engaging story, this it. The author tells a great story with great style. Most of the book revolves around a very non-traditional surgical career that probably won't be applicable to readers (unless you plan on working in war torn countries for a living), but it still fascinated me medically and professionally. The only negative statement I can make (and this is nit-picking) is there isn't more pictures and maps. This is a true story about fascinating people and places explained in great detail. It would have been great to see what the characters and patients really look like. And most of locations are so foriegn that maps of the villages and battle fields would have helped me follow the story better.