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Breathes there an intern with soul so dead that he has never responded to the poignancy of the human situations he encounters at every turn of his rounds? "Aequanimitas" is all right, but during an internship it often has to be an act.
Many of us have tried to catch some of these touching moments with the written word, but have recognized failure and our ink has not seen the public light of day.
Dr. Beernink's 22 poems were written from his experience as a student and intern in Medicine at Stanford and Yale. The reviewer opens the book with the usual misgivings concerning the nonprofessional utterings of a doctor, but with the never-dying hope that here might be a nonscientific volume worth reading—not jocular, not obscure, not maudlin. And astonishment: The hope is realized! Serious but not solemn, clear in message but not over-simple, sensitive but not sentimental—and