Weekends at Bellevue

It’s time to start reading books again.  I invited the Resource Center Assistants (RCA) to meet with me after getting feedback from them that I should treat them like RAs.  Agreed.  So I have met with a number of the thirteen so far, and the first book I was suggested was Weekends at Bellevue by Dr. Julie Holland.  The book chronicles the real life experience of Dr. Holland during her nine years as a psych ER doctor from 1995-2004.  For anyone who may be reading this blog and not from NYC, Bellevue Hospital is the famous city hospital of NY, which means everyone is accepted, whether they have insurance or not.  This is the hospital where many of the homeless population, criminals, patients with schizophrenia, drug-overdoses, and other city dwellers are sent to receive hospital treatment.  Holland works every Saturday and Sunday night shift, guiding the young docs on the shift with her.  She provides guidance and leadership on the nights where the city is ALIVE and active.  As you may imagine, this collection of individuals brought to a hospital for mental health issues makes for a compelling job, and stories for our reading pleasure.  Interwoven within the bi-polar, suicidal, depressed, homicidal, and other category of mental-health patients is the story of her entry into graduate school, her relationships with colleagues (some good, some not so good), her various male “conquests” (include getting married), the birth of her two children, and the eventual decision to leave the ER.   Holland shares how she developed her “style” as a doctor and how her relationship with her father fueled much of her “coldness” in response to her patients.  We also learn about her vulnerabilities and the decision for her to enter a relationship with a counselor and how she worked through her challenges.  There are real life stories well documented within the book, such as the shooter at the Empire State Building (she worked with one of those who was shot), 9/11 response in the city, the suicide of her friend and writer Spalding Gray, and some other well-known deaths of NY residents.  The story is an interesting read, though Holland never really ingratiates herself as an overly sympathetic doctor, though I would imagine her edge was clearly developed through the type of people she engaged each weekend.  Interesting story of work that is necessary but really hard to think about doing on a regular basis.  Strange choice for a favorite book, but kept me glued throughout.