Overview

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.""

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9780896727557

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A harrowing account of a compassionate doctor's abduction at gunpoint from his own home. Stays with you. --People 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 Perfectly suited for a required reading list for medical students and young doctors. --Seattle Post-Intelligencer 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 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 Perfectly suited for a required reading list for medical students and young doctors. Seattle Post-Intelligencer Dr. Berk s riveting narrative of four hours at gunpoint affirms the motto of his role model Sir William Osleraequanimitas, coolness and presence of mind under all circumstances. . . . A compelling read. Charles S. Bryan, M.S., president, American Osler Society

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

Author Information

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.

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