More Letters From The Pit: Stories of a Physician’S Odyssey in Emergency Medicine

In More Letters From The Pit, a sequel to the popular Letters From The Pit, I share how, over the course of my career, I considered the roles that fate, destiny, and karma seem to play in our lives. Medical care is an imperfect science and it's delivery complicated. Why some patients we think will easily recover from an injury or illness die, and those we believe are already beyond our help somehow rally and recover is mystifying. Just what, if anything, controls these events? Are they preordained or are there true miracles.

The book is again structured in first-person, stream -of-consciousness narrative of my life as a doctor. What I saw and what I was thinking in real time as I treated patients. In addition this collection of fascinating and exciting cases, I explore some of the darker corners of life in the emergency Room. How we deal with those patients we can't help and the angst and feelings of personal loss that accompany those cases. Events so horrific and heart-rending they can never be forgotten. And of course the joy of triumph caring for those we pull from the jaws of death. The style of presentation will leave you with the feeling that you were there with me, looking over my shoulder, as I worked.

So find a comfortable spot, turn on your reading lamp, take a deep breath, and follow me into the pit.
Review Rating: 5-star review!
Reviewed By Romuald Dzemo for Readers' Favorite
More Letters from the Pit: Stories of A Physician's Odyssey in Emergency Medicine by Dr. Patrick J. Crocker is a memoir that lifts the veil to show readers and non-medical professionals what the emergency room and experience as a doctor feels and looks like. Structured as letters to the author's college friend, Jack, it explores the author's experience in Emergency Medicine dealing with all kinds of patients facing life-or-death situations. Here the author shares in language that is crisp and emotions that are raw the thoughts harbored while working on patients, the frustrations, hopes and despair, and a lot more. The reader quickly understands that the experience of Emergency Medicine is fraught with unpredictable outcomes -- a patient with a mild injury can easily give up while someone who is thought to be already on the brink of death can pull through. The frenzy of activities, the emotional intensity of the experience, and relationships between patients and doctors as well as family are examined. In these letters, the author explores themes of fate, destiny, faith and miracles, healing and death, and in a way that resonates with readers.

Dr. Patrick J. Crocker might be trained as a doctor, but he is a terrific writer who brings his personal experience with human suffering alive, providing insights that are thought-provoking and sharing with readers how each unique experience spoke to his humanity in the course of his career. The descriptions of healing processes are clear and fascinating. The writing is bold and engaging and the author's ability to recreate the scenes from the cases he has handled with clarity and detail is captivating. It is poignant; it is so real that readers will feel as though they stood alongside the doctor and the frontline professionals of emergency medicine as they worked through each case. Each story is unique, each case unique, but there is a unifying factor that comes across the writing so brilliantly -- humanity. More Letters from the Pit is a book like no other, written in a mesmerizing voice and with compassion. You'll be informed, entertained, instructed, and inspired. You'll also experience the pathos as you read.