The paperback edition of Final Exam is now available!
Over the next few months, I'll be speaking in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Wisconsin, Kansas, Chicago, Michigan, Minnesota, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Virginia, Indiana, Ohio, Florida, and Texas. I hope to meet some of you and to update this site with news regarding different events.
Your Book is required reading for all nine of my kids...
Posted by: Harold G. Borbridge | January 17, 2008 at 01:56 AM
Hi Pauline! I'm a romantic suspense author and while doing some research I came across your book Final Exam. I wanted to tell you what a talented writer you are and how very much I'm enjoying the book. I truly haven't been able to put it down! There just aren't very many books out there that describe what being a doctor is actually like and through your writing I've been able to get a lot of insight into the characters in my next book. Thank you so much for writing this and giving those of us on the outside of medicine a peek into the life of a surgeon!
Posted by: Robin Wearle | March 04, 2008 at 11:13 PM
Hi Pauline,
We met in Seattle's Elliott Bay Book Company last year during your book tour.
I just started my own press. Your book is on the top of my list. I am so eager to bring this book into Mandarin Chinese in Taiwan.
Though I have worked as foreign rights for children's publisher, would you refer me directly to the person I should contact with?
Posted by: Charlene Lai | March 07, 2008 at 02:03 AM
Pauline: I couldn't put your book down. Thank you for sharing your insights on a surgeon's reflections on Mortality...something that most of us never get to hear or read about. On page 90..."in the quiet of my office, began to cry"...made me sigh and cry. I can relate to your professionalism and your humanitarianism. As a teacher of young adolescents I have experienced the sadness of young lives taken too soon (mostly car accidents)and it has always profoundly affected me. We are mere mortals, but we can, like you have, give our best to others in the most humane way. Thank you for writing this book and I hope you will continue to write more.
Posted by: Linda Robertson | March 30, 2008 at 12:19 PM
Pauline,
I knew you as a resident at Yale when I was doing my surgery internship before my neurosurgery residency. I have met few if any individuals with such skill in medicine and surgery. Do you still practice medicine? If not, I wonder what it is like for you to be away from surgery. Neurosurgery, like Transplant surgery, is a difficult field and it often feels as hard to stay as to leave. Congratulations on your book, it is wonderful! I still remember you so fondly for the warm support that you offered me as an intern.
Posted by: Hahnah Kasowski | April 01, 2008 at 09:16 PM
Dr. Pauline w. Chen,
Thank you for keeping me inspired with your book. I am thankful that there are sergeons like yourself that take the time to enlighten people with your work and your words.
I just read the last pages of your book about five minutes ago and wanted to simplely share my appreciation. It's books like yours that will keep my head on track through my medical training.
Sincerly
R.A.kapinski
Posted by: Russell A. Kapinski | April 11, 2008 at 07:41 AM
Thank you Dr. Chen for writing this book. I lost my husband to liver failure from hemochromatis and alcohol. We almost made it to transplant, but he couldnt hold on any longer. The book has helped me with my feelings regarding the doctors and the whole ordeal.
sincerely, Patricia scherz
Posted by: Patricia Scherz | June 16, 2008 at 07:59 PM
When will you be in Rhode Island?I think you will be surprised if I show you my 1963 high school yearbook-there are two people in there you should be fammiliar with-one a doctor,the other not(hint:NPR and pediatric dermatology)
Posted by: joe bernstein | July 01, 2008 at 10:27 AM
Actually if you want to know who they are-just email me at jbgrelber@aol.com
Posted by: joe bernstein | July 05, 2008 at 05:12 PM
Can I tell YOU a story? These are the first words that I ever heard from you on Morning Stories. I was downloading podcasts from NPR and that was one of the options. I then found your book on Amazon and ordered the audio version. I have only finished the first disc, and felt compelled to write. My sister passed away at age 58 in May 2008 of metastatic breast cancer (liver/lungs). As a nurse her whole career, her lifelong desire was to donate her body to science as a final contribution. In hearing you talk about your cadaver in med school I could only think about her decision. My sister was a heavy smoker; her breast cancer discovered in 2005, then cancer in the liver/lungs in 2007. It really was emotional for me listening to your story about the last time with the cadaver and you thanking her for her last contribution. Ironically, that was what was written in my sisters obit. - that her lifelong desire was to continue giving to the medical field and therefore donating her body to Duke University. After listening to the disc in the car, I came home in tears and announced to my husband and teenage kids that I too want to donate my body to science.
Posted by: Kim T. | August 26, 2008 at 07:01 PM
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Posted by: Kim T. | August 26, 2008 at 07:54 PM
Pauline,
I read your book over the summer and enjoyed it very much. Will you be promoting your book at all in Canada?
Posted by: Pauline | October 04, 2008 at 09:34 PM