Anatomy of a Kidnapping: A Doctor's Story - Softcover

Steven L. Berk (author)

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0896729346 ISBN 13: 9780896729346

Publisher: Texas Tech University Press, 2015

Synopsis

Four hours. That was the amount of time between looking down the barrel of a gun and finding myself free along a silent highway lined by cotton fields. In the time period that seemed eternal, my unique experiences as a doctor created an indescribable bond between myself and my captor. I looked upon the situation just as I looked upon a medical emergency: I took a deep breath, hid my panic, and tried to solve the situation. In March 2005, Dr. Steven Berk was kidnapped in Amarillo, Texas, by a dangerous and enigmatic criminal who entered his home, armed with a shotgun, through an open garage door. Dr. Berk's experiences and training as a physician, especially his understanding of Sir William Osler's treatise on aequanimitas, enabled him to keep his family safe, establish rapport with his kidnapper, and bring his captor to justice. This harrowing story is not just about a kidnapping. It is a story about patients, about physicians, and about what each experience has taught Berk about life and death, mistakes, family, the practice of medicine, and the physician-patient relationship. It is a story about how Berk's profession prepared him for an unpredictable situation and how any doctor must address life's uncertainties.

About this title

Review

An engaging story about a distinguished life in medicine and a violent crime that almost ended it. --Sandeep Jauhar, author of Intern: A Doctor's Initiation

Dr. Berk's riveting narrative of four hours at gunpoint affirms the motto of his role model Sir William Osler--aequanimitas, "coolness and presence of mind under all circumstances." . . . A compelling read. --Charles S. Bryan, M.S., president, American Osler Society

This phenomenal memoir evokes Lewis Thomas and Richard Selzer in its insights into medicine, but it is also the suspenseful drama of an encounter with a criminal that could have ended badly. . . . Truly a harrowing, wonderful and ultimately a redemptive tale. --Abraham Verghese, author of Cutting for Stone

A harrowing account of a compassionate doctor's abduction at gunpoint from his own home. Stays with you. --People

Perfectly suited for a "required reading" list for medical students and young doctors. --Seattle Post-Intelligencer

About the Author

Steven L. Berk, M.D., is dean of the Texas Tech School of Medicine and provost of Texas Tech Health Sciences Center. As a physician certified in infectious disease and geriatrics, Berk has treated an outstanding diversity of patients in his forty-year medical career.

About this edition

• Publisher: Texas Tech University Press
• Publication date: 2015
• ISBN 10: 0896729346
• ISBN 13: 9780896729346
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 277