The Hospitalist

by Michael Weisberg

What happens when you are admitted to the hospital as a patient, and the physician assigned to be your doctor has never seen you before and knows absolutely nothing about you?

Welcome to Medicine in the 21st century, where the results of having a Hospitalist instead of your own doctor can be disastrous.

Specialist Dr. Aaron Bernstein enters the world of the Hospitalist firsthand when he confronts a schizophrenic patient who -- literally -- is a ticking time-bomb.

317 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 11, 2014

About the author

Dr. Michael Weisberg has been a practicing gastroenterologist for over 27 years in Plano, Texas. He is board certified in Internal Medicine and Gastroenterology.

Dr. Weisberg graduated in 1981 from Vanderbilt University Summa Cum Laude with a Bachelor’s degree in English Literature. He received his medical degree from Baylor College of Medicine in Houston in 1985 and completed a fellowship in Gastroenterology at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas.

Dr. Weisberg has written stories throughout his medical career. The Hospitalist was Dr. Weisberg’s first novel. In The End is his second and most recent novel.

Reviews

[Lorilei Gonzales · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was given a copy of this book for a fair and honest review.

So based on the book blurb, I thought I was reading a story about a schizo patient with a bomb strapped to his chest or inside his body or something. After reading through half of the book (many, many chapters are used to develop back stories of these different doctors [or hospitalists, as some are sometimes referred to], some of which I didn’t think were significant enough to the main story to include), we find out that Jumpy Johnson has no bomb on him anywhere. And there is certainly no countdown of any sort to give any indication of when he might go off. He’s just pretty much off his rocker during his entire hospital stay.

But those problems aside, it was a very interesting read. I’ve heard about doctors that have made their fortunes by ordering unnecessary tests, but this book opened my eyes to the possibility that it might be a larger problem than I thought. Luckily, I don’t think that I’ve run into so many corrupt people in the medical field. With many family members just starting their careers as doctors, I hope that they aren’t tempted to find the easy way to make money off people who need medical help and only do enough just to avoid lawsuits. It makes me wonder how prevalent it is since Weinberg’s characters all seem to walk the wrong side of that fine line.


I’m not sure what I was supposed to take away from reading this book. Caution? But just like a hospitalist can’t be sure of what their new patient is hiding, you can never be sure that the doctor/hospitalist taking care of you is really doing the right thing for you.

[Renee · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked the book it showed me what could happen if this country continues on the path it is on with the health care we have right now.

[C · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book, wish there was more. At first I had to check and see if I was reading The Hospitalist, cause the way it started but I was. Scary about our healthcare but that's exactly the way it is I'm afraid. This author needs to write more books please.

highly recommend

[Laura Giangrande]

I didn't care for the book. It would tell you a little bit about one person and than next chapter go on to another person. I just couldn't get into book to finish it.

[Jessica · Rating 2 out of 5]

The summary of this novel is bit misleading - the premise sounded intriguing. Unfortunately, it disappoints. A significant portion of the book focuses on the backstory of various characters, often unnecessarily. The writing style is clumsy and self-conscious. This work paints a fairly cynical and unflattering picture of those involved in the practice of medicine - there were no redeeming characters, and it seemed that everything that could go wrong, did. I feel like the author did a disservice to a topic that is worth exploring - this could have been better addressed as a nonfiction work featuring case studies to illustrate facts and statistics, rather than an erratic, disjointed novel written with a sensationalist bent.

[Patricia A. Boyer · Rating 5 out of 5]

What you want/don''t want to know about hospialists.

Keep s reader interested and involved from beginning to end. Frightening commentary on status of practice of medicine in US Money and greed destroy doctor who start out with high ideals. Make s person want y to Never need medical care

[Priscilla Mowinkel · Rating 3 out of 5]

I discovered this book after the author, a Dallas gastroenterologist‎, spoke at a local event which I attended. I had fallen over a parking berm in January and after a trip to the emergency room for 9 stitches in my head, and I discovered when I visited my primary care doctor several months later that he had not received the information that I had been in the emergency room, or that I had received the tetanus combo shot or had a cat scan taken of my head even though I had provided the primary care doctor's name and address when asked by the emergency room. This disturbed me and I decided to begin reading this book. The book is a novel, but it also attempts to explain the new organization structure which has taken place in the medical profession. I found this change disturbing. As a novel it leaves a lot to be desired, but as an look into primary care medicine, hospitals and specialists it is an eye opener. My personal opinion is that the story line bombs at the end, but again, I did not read the book as a novel but as a source of information.

[Judy Brock · Rating 3 out of 5]

I learned a lot about the distressing parts of medicine and medical insurance. It was an interesting story. I did not like the many spelling errors; they were distracting. Where was the editor?

[Janet · Rating 2 out of 5]

Too much emphasis on money, procedures, and doctors. Not enough story.

[Hubert · Rating 5 out of 5]

Written with lots of insight into the business of medicine and the practice of it. Dr. Weisberg artfully interweaves current problems in the healthcare system with many different storylines.