Review Of Doctor's Story Of Age Of AIDS By Abraham Verghese

Zahir Nobles

Rhetoric Section-53

LuAnn Dvorak

October 19, 2014 Abraham Verghese is a distinguished physician, educator, and author of “A Doctor’s Story of a town and it’s people in the Age of AIDS”. Verghese paints a clear picture of the fear, ignorance, and hope in the early days of AIDS. Verghese presents dramatic moods and life changing feelings of discovering the different symptoms of the patients he tends to throughout the story. Verghese was a young physician who began to treat patients who had different infectious diseases. Verghese became inevitability, the town’s AIDS expert. The year was 1944 when Verghese’s book was published, however the story was portrayed during the mid-80s when Verghese began treating different patients

For instance when Verghese first met with Mrs. T in the clinic and she explained, “When I look within, all I saw were tiny brown particles”(Verghese, p.107). I felt like I was in the room with him when he was discussing the crab lice with Mrs. T. I caught myself laughing at the thought of an older lady coming into the clinic for treatment of such a thing. Throughout the entire chapter Verghese goes on to discuss each and every patients flaws and problems that he tends to carefully and respectfully and makes sure that he can do everything in his power to help them. “Every morning before starting work at the VA, I would go and check on Gordon at the Miracle Center. His fever raged on and on… we added high dose penicillin to his regimen”(Verghese p.117). Gordon has an “undiscovered infection that is causing him to have a fever and be drenched in sweat at night”(Verghese p117). Verghese looked for solutions to why this was happening to Gordon conversely, he could not find it, which frustrated him greatly. “Gordon tells Abraham that he had two lovers who died of AIDS and that he was probably infected in 1980 or 81. Abraham believes that Gordon is in the early stages of AIDS dementia and elects to keep him in the hospital”(Verghese p.119). Verghese wants the best for Gordon and wants to make sure that he get the proper treatment the he needs. Verghese shows that the patients are his number one priority

His descriptive tone and narrative flow makes the story interesting and easy to follow. I found myself envisioning the different characters as I read about their demeanor, looks, and personalities. Verghese wanted the readers to see the human side of the patients, to share their experiences. Verghese wanted people to see that not all-medical care is payment driven, that there are doctors who actually care. Verghese made it a point to make his patients feel comfortable; there was no judging of their choices or their lifestyle. Verghese wrote with such a great deal of empathy, it’s almost like he understood what they were going through.

I’m realizing that the more I read, the more I like Verghese. Verghese seems like the perfect doctor. Most men shy away from seeking medical care because of embarrassment, ignorance, even fear. I believe that his target audience is others in his profession; Verghese sends a strong message with this personal story of his life experiences. Verghese challenges them to be caring and connected with their patients. The things that Verghese did for his patients was far more meaningful to them that just treating their physical ailments. Verghese also sheds light on the effect of social