My Own Country: A Doctor's Story (Reflection Paper) (Book Report Sample)

Reflection paper
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Reflection paper
The book “My Own Country: A Doctor's Story” written by Verghese is about love and loss and the human condition, in every variation. This book illustrates the journey of the main character which took him to the unknown area to expertise his profession. Moreover, later the doctor decided to take up practice in the city of Johnson. Verghese wrote the first comprehensive and forthright statement said by a doctor regarding his work with patients who suffered from AIDS and concerning the intense changes that had conveyed both his personal and professional life. In his book, Verghese gives a vivid illustration of all the challenges he have faced while becoming an indisputable doctor for many patients in Johnson City, and in the neighboring region of North Carolina.

What surprised me the most was the way Verghese offered a heartfelt viewpoint on the spread of AID. Being up when the first case occurred, he became a witness of the recounting of this dreadfulness thus he took the initiative to share the story of that patient. Dr. Verghese became the expert after the first patient with AID symptoms was treated. Later, everyone having suspicion of AID came from the neighboring small towns in great numbers in order to be treated. Apart from that, his accounts perfectly matched the great story he had told. It was the time when people from rural areas both religious and non-religious were treated with sympathy. Abraham Verghese was a doctor specializing in transmittable diseases. Verghese had started to work with infected patients. Despite the fact that he was foreign, he faced rejection because of the work he was doing with HIV patients rather than because of his background.
Another surprising thing is the way he had described the events with unusual openness, and sympathy. This is because of the way he communicated his thoughts of displacement and belonging, he talked about his patients with high opinion and affection, and in reality I felt like I knew everyone there. Verghese described several patients in detail, and how they got transmitted and died in the end. The reader feels a sense of loss. He made all attempts to get acquainted with his patients to hear their stories. Therefore, he made friends with some of his patients. Verghese illustrates all of his patients with a concern that is heart-breaking. Through his writing, the reader gets connected to the grief, fear, disquiet and total aggravation of those who were infected. This fact made the readers psychologically encompassing. His story of observing patients who got worse and finally gave in to the disease were distressing; especially to a physician with no cure.
Apart from that, the book gives a descriptive account of the consequences of disease on a doctor, who took time to listen to the story of his patients and paid attention to them is also a surprising. During that time, AIDS medical trials had just started, but death trailed his patients with agonizing consequences. Medical personnel in the hospitals have displayed their sexism against the patients and did not understand the Verghese’s obligation to them. This is a vivid example of a dedicated doctor who was eager to discover his personal emotional reaction to the patients. When HIV patients started filtering into Verghese's health center, a little was known concerning the disease and about its treatment. No one was informed about this horrifying disease and so much was on assumption and apprehension.
The other thing that came as a surprise was the way in which the patients of Verghese touched his heart, strengthened his profession, and put a tension on his other relations. Not only his parents and wife were concerned about him, as he became really engaged with AIDS patients, other doctors and nurses were also discriminatory, rude, to him and occasionally just malicious. However, the doctor did not pay attention to all those remarks he still continued to take care of his patients
His excessively detailed book has surprised the readers due to the reason that the author shows clear portraits of many of his patients. All this seems like rather personal information, which no patient would prefer to disclose. According to him, his patients belonged to certain groups. Most of them were gays, heterosexual, and hemophiliacs. Apart from that AIDS is considered a disease for the big cities and not the small towns. Initially Verghese was engrossed in academic medicine, before going into AIDS primary care, and in front of “My Own Country” there are comprehensive and vivid accounts of his patients and their environment that might be measured as the literary counterpart of that field. Also Verghese’s descriptions of his own account and circumstances were very important. The report of analyzing of AIDS had a great impact on his outlook towards medication and on his personal life. Being emotional and frankness, Verghese follows fellow confessional physician and it had helped him to establish the tradition of self-conscious contemporary physician.

Verghese’s feeling of incorporation and separ...