It's been a while since I read a memoir and I'm so glad I picked up Stress Test by Kay White Drew. As I've mentioned before, I prefer reading memoirs from ordinary people (as opposed to famous celebrities), but I particularly enjoyed this one because of the historical period it covers. I've been attempting to learn more about the 1960s and 1970s.

Drew was a medical student during the 1970s when women were still a bit of an anomaly in the field. Having read about women in the sciences during the same period, I was familiar with the sexism that was rampant a decade or so before. By the 1970s, sexual harassment wasn't quite as overt as it had been in the 1950s (if you've read Lessons in Chemistry you know what I'm talking about). Actually, I thought Drew was in a much more supportive environment than I was expecting. Perhaps because she was with a bunch of people whose career choice requires a degree of compassion.

I identified with a lot of the feelings and emotions Drew was experiencing during this highly competitive, highly stressful period of medical training. While her sexual habits and drug use (smoking pot) was not something I've dealt with it wouldn't be the 1970s without sex, drugs, and rock 'n roll (there are a few musical references including the death of Elvis Presly). But the sense of failure and inadequacy along with needing to be more assertive and wondering if she would ever find "Mr. Right" - I think many women struggle with these things in their 20s and early 30s.

Perhaps you or someone you know is heading off to medical school in the fall - this would be an excellent book for them. But I think it would be great for any woman in their 20s and 30s as much of what Drew dealt with is universal to young women. I'm older than that and I still found it inspiring. It had me reflecting on times in my own life and how I navigated those ups and downs.

I've never been to medical school or faced life and death decisions, and I'm a couple of decades younger (she was finishing up medical school the year I was born - I smiled to myself when she mentioned a date that was 4 days before my birth), so I was surprised how similar our journeys of self-discovering were (in spirit at least).

The memoir is well-written and engaging. Drew shares poignant and intimate moments of her life that draw the reader into the story.

My review will be published at Girl Who Reads on Sunday - https://www.girl-who-reads.com/2024/06/poignant-inspiring-memoir.html

I am always in the mood for some good medical nonfiction. This particular memoir looks at one woman’s experience with medical school in the 1970s, a time when women were still a minority in medicine, but the feminist movement was surging.

We get a detailed look into the author’s romantic relationships during her time in medical school, mostly unsuccessful. I appreciate how honest she is in her writing, enjoying casual sexual relationships, but also craving more intimacy from her partners.

Medical school is incredibly rigorous and interns/residents aren’t perfect. As the author describes the endless hours of working with patients on little to no sleep, it made me wonder how there weren’t more mistakes and fatal errors.

I enjoyed reading about her experience and loved that she attended school in Baltimore, a city close to my heart. Recognizing all the landmarks and reading about her connection to the city made the reading experience even better.

I recommend this book to those interested in a woman’s experience in medical school, beyond just the time spent in class or working directly with patients.

This book was great! I really liked learning about the experiences of a medical student, something I didn't really know anything about. It was super interesting to see what life was like several years ago and how things have changed and improved now! I loved seeing how she was able to learn about herself and what she needed to be happy and successful, even in a time when she was a pioneer in what she was doing.

This was giving Claire in Outlander vibes. As someone who works in modern medicine, I absolutely love reading about the history of women in this field and hearing their stories. I take in so much fiction on this topic (like call the midwife and as previously mentioned, Claire in outlander haha). Reading some real stories is game changing! I definitely need to read more educational entertaining books like this. Some of Kay’s experiences made my heart race with rage on her behalf, and some made me tired just reading them, but that makes her journey all the more inspiring.