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

The sign that hangs in the St. Vincent’s waiting room says that everyone is welcome. This includes Malachai with his odd demeanor and criminal background, the uninsured, people of every ethnicity, the homeless, and anyone else, including Pearson and the rest of the staff. “It was my House” (218) she thinks when she sees it one day during her fourth year of school. In Pearson’s view, this should be the view of every hospital and physician, and she is continually frustrated that financial realities can make people feel unwelcome because they are unable to receive treatment, or at least, some of the treatments they most need. 

In Chapter 25, Pearson gives the keys to St. Vincent’s to Jacqueline, who is immediately overwhelmed by how much she has to remember. The keys opened every door in the clinic. They are a symbol of how varied the responsibilities of the volunteers, residents, and doctors at the House are. They have access to rooms holding patients with cancer, diabetes, schizophrenia, depression, strep throat, the common cold, and every other ailment that can afflict a human body and mind. The key ring is massive, and Jacqueline cannot see how she can possibly handle it.