No Apparent Distress: A Doctor’s Coming of Age on the Front Lines of American Medicine

“The skiing trip was my first real introduction to how the other half lives.” 

Pearson’s trip with Jennifer’s family shows her that not everyone lives in a trailer and views things like extra marshmallows in hot chocolate as a luxury. Her working-class background, and the example of her father’s hard work and humility, will give her empathy for the people she will serve at St. Vincent’s.

“‘I already left him. That was the first real decision I ever made for myself, and this is the second. The abortion. When I got pregnant, I realized I was in a trap. But here is the miracle: I can get out.’”

When Pearson meets Xochitl in the abortion clinic, she understands the awe with which some people regard doctors. Xochitl is there for an abortion, but to be able to perform an abortion, safely, is to work a miracle. 

“If my mind grasped at any easy explanation, it was, This was your fault. You should’ve known. When he told you about depression, when you joked about killing someone with caffeine. Those were messages and you should have known.”

Pearson is prone to guilt after Frank’s suicide, and this tendency will follow her into her medical training. It takes a long time before she can stop second-guessing herself when something goes wrong, and it becomes clear that this is a tendency shared by many medical students, which makes the discussion of suicide statistics among physicians more poignant.