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Emmet Hirsch
ALLi Author Member
Location: United States of America (the)
Genres: Commercial Fiction, General Fiction, Narrative Nonfiction, Historical Fiction, Nature/Science
Skills: Speaking Engagement/Lecture, Reading/Literary Event, Performance/Spoken Word
I am an obstetrician/gynecologist and researcher in Chicago, Illinois, USA and a Professor of Medicine at the University of Chicago.
My first novel, The Education of Dr. Montefiore, was published in October, 2016. This book tells the tale of Robert Montefiore, who graduates from medical school and plunges into the sink-or-swim world of a residency in obstetrics and gynecology.
He sinks.
As if his fears of inadequacy were insufficient, he receives plenty of external validation in the form of critical supervisors, incapacitating fatigue and sick patients. He has fallen in irrational love at first sight with first-year medical student Maggie, and his efforts to woo her all end in disaster. He must find a way to thrive during this four-year trial by fire or be destroyed in the process.
The novel is set in the fictional Chicago School of Medicine Hospital, a place where heroism and selflessness share the wards with vanity and ineptitude, and where raw trainees struggle to navigate the narrow edge that separates remedy from harm. Reminiscent of The House of God (but kinder), The Education of Dr. Montefiore is funny and poignant. Underlying the narrative are themes I believe the public cares about: self-discovery; the role of institutions and individuals in inspiring young doctors; the miracles manifest in the functioning of the human body.
When I was a medical student I was a regular columnist for The Daily Northwestern. In addition to my novel and my scientific/academic output, I have published a short story in The Examined Life (the literary journal of the University of Iowa School of Medicine) and several patient vignettes/reflections published in prominent medical journals.
Emmet Hirsch's books
The Education of Doctor Montefiore
Robert Montefiore graduates from medical school and plunges into the sink-or-swim world of a residency in obstetrics and gynecology.
He sinks.
As if his fears of inadequacy were insufficient, he receives plenty of external validation in the form of critical supervisors, incapacitating fatigue and sick patients. He has fallen in irrational love at first sight with first-year medical student Maggie, and his efforts to woo her all end in disaster. He must find a way to thrive during this four-year trial by fire or be destroyed in the process.
The Education of Dr. Montefiore is set in the fictional Chicago School of Medicine Hospital, a place where heroism and selflessness share the wards with vanity and ineptitude. Hilarious and poignant, this novel explores the themes of self-discovery, the role of institutions and individuals in inspiring young doctors, and the miracles manifest in the functioning of the human body.
Praise for The Education of Doctor Montefiore:
"The lively, warmhearted novel is peopled with vibrant secondary characters…Hirsch achieves a nice balance between medical procedures, raunchy set pieces…romance, and humor…The ensemble cast is among the work’s greatest strengths…Thanks to a sympathetic, hapless protagonist and his Scrubs-like backup team, this engaging tale sparkles."
Kirkus Reviews
"A sobering and inspiring reminder of the experience of residency and its roller-coaster of emotions. Dr. Emmet Hirsch captures the events and the emotions in a style that is both raw and honest, punctuated with hope and humor and exquisite character development. This is a hard book to put down. We need dedicated, skilled, compassionate physicians like the fabulous Dr. Montefiore. And we need authors like Dr. Emmet Hirsch to entertain us, but just as importantly to keep us honest, hold us accountable, and remind us why we entered the profession to begin with."
Errol R. Norwitz, M.D., Ph.D., M.B.A.
Louis E. Phaneuf Professor of Obstetrics & Gynecology
Tufts University School of Medicine
Chairman, Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology
"Vivid storytelling thrusts you inside the grisly, tragic, yet absurdly hilarious world of an ob-gyn residency. Brutally candid and authentic."
Dave Cullen, author of the New York Times bestseller Columbine
"Equal parts high send-up and heartfelt reflection, Emmet Hirsch's The Education of Dr. Montefiore offers up trenchant analysis of the personal and professional paths of those who take a sacred oath on behalf of life. These characters, so rich with burden, will leave the reader both puzzling over the folly of learned men and women who trifle with gods, and marveling over the author's examination of vexed personalities jostling for supremacy amid the madcap, the maudlin, and the inevitably mortal."
Bayo Ojikutu, author of Free Burning and 47th Street Black