It’s Joseph Heller meets Samuel Shem in Assume the Physician, an extremely entertaining, sobering satire of
about 100,000 words by John Hunt, MD.
The novel is available now in electronic format at Amazon.com. I was privileged to read an advance
copy.
In Assume, a brash
but naïve young medical intern, Dr. Eddie Markus, tries to make sense of the
baffling, contradictory administrative realities that plague modern
medicine. He is guided through the
mindless medical morass by his omniscient mentor, known simply as “Dr. Blow,”
while receiving sympathy and support in other ways by the beautiful, idealistic
Nurse Maid. 
Dr. Hunt (pictured) knows firsthand the kind of obstacles that are
constantly thrown in the way of good doctors by well meaning but nevertheless
inherently evil government regulators and self-important administrators. Every page of Assume will find the reader laughing at the inane antics and
Catch-22 scenarios faced by Dr. Markus--that is, until the reality sinks in that
every situation described is scrupulously based upon the actual medical
environment of today.
The main theme of Assume
is “doctors are sheep,” and it is about time that one of the sheep stood up and
said so. Doctors blame everybody
and nobody, everything and anything for the healthcare crisis...except
themselves, where the true blame lies.
As Dr. Hunt points out in his ironic, prophetic tale, if doctors would
only stand up for themselves and, more importantly, their patients, the
so-called crisis in healthcare could be solved almost overnight.
Dr. Hunt had the guts to write Assume the Physician.
I hope America and the rest of the world will have the guts to read it and heed
it...before it is too late.
