Doc: Revelations of a Reluctant Yank Studying Medicine Among the Irish

Prodded by his formidable Aunt Bertha to become a doctor, college-grad, Gene McKee, agrees to explore Europe in search of a welcoming medical school. Seizing the opportunity will provide relief from the tedium and stench of a temporary job as a fish cutter in Rhode Island. The frustrations and apparent futility of the quest, extending through Ireland, England, Scotland, and France, test his resolve. But just before the clock’s final tick, an unlikely acceptance to the College of Surgeons in Dublin opens the door to a future not exactly of his own choosing. McKee’s rite-of-passage travelogue is replete with anecdotes of medical school and Dublin life during the late 1950’s and early 60’s. Recounted with self-deprecating humor and considerable honesty, we witness McKee’s transformation from a reluctant medical student to a competent physician. Enjoyably peppered with historical tidbits, amorous entanglements, and imaginative riffs, reading Doc and seeing Ireland with its rich cast of “characters” through a young Irish-American’s eyes, will surely bring smiles to the faces of readers and for some a twinge of recognition.