If His Stethoscope Could Talk
Tales from a Doctor's Life
Cardiologist Martin Duke remembers his career in this memoir, Tales My Stethoscope Told Me, the story of his journey through medical school, hospital training, army service, and thirty years of cardiology practice in a small New England community. Not a flamboyant tale of heroic deeds, Tales My Stethoscope Told Me is, rather, a recollection of seemingly ordinary moments that, upon reflection, turn out to be most extraordinary.
Dr. Duke spent most of his practicing years in Manchester, Connecticut, where it was possible for him to know both his patients and their community intimately. As implied in the title, an important part of that practice-and of his memoir-consisted in listening to his patients-to their chests, certainly, but also to their voices and their minds and to that quality that we call (coincidentally) their hearts. As a result, Duke makes us readers care about these people as much as he himself did.
In his years of practice, Duke saved many lives and extended many more. His patients included people of all ages-children, young adults, young marrieds, and old couples facing mortality together. But, as is inevitable in caring for patients with dire conditions, death hovers just beyond the door, and Duke does not sugar-coat his reminiscences of it. Some patients die-suddenly, unexpectedly, as a natural result of their conditions, and because we must all die. Here, perhaps more than anywhere else, Dr. Duke's humanity and compassion are the book's strongest theme.
In addition to patients, Dr. Duke also offers tributes to colleagues from whom he learned so much, including his teachers, well-known cardiologists, physicians, and practitioners in his community, whose reminiscences are offered in their own words. Further, Duke reveals himself to be not only a knowledgeable doctor, but also a well-rounded person, and Tales My Stethoscope Told Me is not solely about medicine. He discusses his longtime interests in stamp collecting, athletic activities, and the history of medicine, and devotes more than a few pages to his family. |
