IN STITCHES is my first book. It took me four years to write, sell, and publish. I am really proud of it. For some reason most doctors will not acknowledge that at the start of medical school they were awkward, queasy fawns who vomited outside the anatomy labs, fainted in the operating rooms, and peed on the sides of cars after keggers. What changes us all is the accumulation of events and experiences that make up medical school. IN STITCHES presents a peephole into that world.
With the exception of Samuel Shem’s novel The House of God, most medical books I’ve read are overwrought and semi-true, with titles such as The Five People I Sent to Heaven. Medical shows on TV are no better, as they present doctors who are saints, sinners, or arrogant, know-it-all geniuses. It’s funny, but the screwball comedy Scrubs got more right than ER, Grey’s Anatomy, and House combined.
With IN STITCHES, I wanted to lift the veil of secrecy that hides much of what goes into a medical education. In our society, medicine and its image are sacred cows, especially within the profession itself. There is a one-dimensional party line about the piety of the healing arts and its practitioners.
I bust that myth apart.
With IN STITCHES, I put my journey of growing up an awkward Asian American and becoming a doctor under the microscope, revealing everything, warts and all.
If you’ve bought IN STITCHES, I’d like to sincerely say “thank you.” Thank you for spending your hard-earned money to read about my story. My hope is that this book makes you laugh a lot, cringe at times, and maybe even cry a little. And, if you do laugh, cringe, or cry, please feel free to let me know about it. You can reach me via email at askdryoun@dryoun.com or message me on Facebook or Twitter.
